Some 10,000 supporters of T Murugiah, the PPP’s rising star who was recently sacked from the party, are expected to attend a rally in support of the embattled deputy minister in Putrajaya tomorrow.
The rally is expected to further aggravate the on-going spat between PPP president M Kayveas and his protege-turned-nemesis Murugiah, who was expelled from the party last Saturday along with six others.
Murugiah’s private secretary NA Shanmuganathan, told Malaysiakini that though the bulk of participants will be party members, members of the public are encourage to attend to hear Murugiah’s side of the story.
“The rally is organised by party members for the members because they want to find out what is really happening, but we won’t stop members of the public from attending,” he said.
The event will take place in the Putrajaya International Convention Centre from 10am to 2pm. Shanmuganathan, a party supreme council member who was sacked along with Murugiah, would be giving the opening speech.
Murugiah to attend
Though the line-up of speakers have not been confirmed, Murugiah - who is also deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and PPP’s sole representative in government - is expected to deliver the winding-up speech.
It is not clear what fate awaits Murugiah, who is an appointed senator. Party boss Kayveas has already said he would recommend another PPP leader for the deputy minister’s post.
Shanmuganathan said among the issues to be raised at tomorrow’s event would include the party’s history, the role played by its first MP DR Seenivasagam, the future of PPP, Kayveas’ unfulfilled promises and what Murugiah can offer as a leader.
Former Brickfields Utara PPP branch chairperson M Jeyaratnam said that the rally would also be discussing the purge of the seven leaders from the party.
“In this case, the accuser is also the judge,” said Jeyaratnam, another leader expelled from the party, in reference to Kayveas.
Following a war of words lasting several weeks between Kayveas (right) and Murugiah’s proxies, the party supreme council acting as the disciplinary committee, sacked the deputy minister and six of his close allies.
The seven were sacked for allegedly making unfounded allegations against the party leadership and for seeking the deregistration of the party.
However, Murugiah’s supporters have contended that the deputy minister was expelled because he was seen as a threat to Kayveas’ leadership.
Event claimed to be a party EGM
However at 5.20pm, Malaysiakini received a faxed statement with the PPP logo claiming that the event was now a party emergency general meeting (EGM).
The statement was signed by Theebavesagan Katirber, Murugiah’s press officer, who is not a party member.
Meanwhile, Kayveas said that the gathering tomorrow was illegal and stressed that Murugiah was abusing his government position to organise the event.
“How can you call for an EGM when you are sacked from the party? Even if you are not, the party rules state that notices must be issued not less than 14 days from the intended meeting.
“I’m disappointed that a deputy minister would resort to this to achieve his aims,” said Kayveas, when met after chairing the party supreme council meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
Elaborating on his allegations that Murugiah had abused his powers, Kayveas said he had seen the police permit which states that the event was for a deputy minister and his supporters.
“Nowhere did it state it was party function. The police have called the party headquarters to verify if it was a party-sanctioned event and we have replied in the negative,” he said.
The rally is expected to further aggravate the on-going spat between PPP president M Kayveas and his protege-turned-nemesis Murugiah, who was expelled from the party last Saturday along with six others.Murugiah’s private secretary NA Shanmuganathan, told Malaysiakini that though the bulk of participants will be party members, members of the public are encourage to attend to hear Murugiah’s side of the story.
“The rally is organised by party members for the members because they want to find out what is really happening, but we won’t stop members of the public from attending,” he said.
The event will take place in the Putrajaya International Convention Centre from 10am to 2pm. Shanmuganathan, a party supreme council member who was sacked along with Murugiah, would be giving the opening speech.
Murugiah to attend
Though the line-up of speakers have not been confirmed, Murugiah - who is also deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and PPP’s sole representative in government - is expected to deliver the winding-up speech.
It is not clear what fate awaits Murugiah, who is an appointed senator. Party boss Kayveas has already said he would recommend another PPP leader for the deputy minister’s post.
Shanmuganathan said among the issues to be raised at tomorrow’s event would include the party’s history, the role played by its first MP DR Seenivasagam, the future of PPP, Kayveas’ unfulfilled promises and what Murugiah can offer as a leader.
Former Brickfields Utara PPP branch chairperson M Jeyaratnam said that the rally would also be discussing the purge of the seven leaders from the party.
“In this case, the accuser is also the judge,” said Jeyaratnam, another leader expelled from the party, in reference to Kayveas.
Following a war of words lasting several weeks between Kayveas (right) and Murugiah’s proxies, the party supreme council acting as the disciplinary committee, sacked the deputy minister and six of his close allies.The seven were sacked for allegedly making unfounded allegations against the party leadership and for seeking the deregistration of the party.
However, Murugiah’s supporters have contended that the deputy minister was expelled because he was seen as a threat to Kayveas’ leadership.
Event claimed to be a party EGM
However at 5.20pm, Malaysiakini received a faxed statement with the PPP logo claiming that the event was now a party emergency general meeting (EGM).
The statement was signed by Theebavesagan Katirber, Murugiah’s press officer, who is not a party member.
Meanwhile, Kayveas said that the gathering tomorrow was illegal and stressed that Murugiah was abusing his government position to organise the event.
“How can you call for an EGM when you are sacked from the party? Even if you are not, the party rules state that notices must be issued not less than 14 days from the intended meeting.
“I’m disappointed that a deputy minister would resort to this to achieve his aims,” said Kayveas, when met after chairing the party supreme council meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
Elaborating on his allegations that Murugiah had abused his powers, Kayveas said he had seen the police permit which states that the event was for a deputy minister and his supporters.
“Nowhere did it state it was party function. The police have called the party headquarters to verify if it was a party-sanctioned event and we have replied in the negative,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment