PETALING JAYA, March 2 — Former PKR secretary-general Datuk Salehuddin Hisham today denied demanding to head Selangor investment arm Perangsang as claimed by Senator Dr Syed Husin Ali, saying the deputy president should “do his homework” before he talks.
Both leaders traded barbs in statements issued to the media after Salehuddin revealed he quit PKR two weeks ago and predicted more resignations in the wake of Bayan Baru MP Datuk Seri Zahrain Hashim and Nibong Tebal MP Tan Tee Beng’s departure from the opposition party.
“Yes, I am upset over the episode of Kumpulan Perangsang. Let us not go into the specifics as it would be terribly embarrassing to Datuk Seri Anwar who I am sure is not aware of Dr Syed Husin’s press release,” said Salehuddin (picture) in a statement.
Salehuddin added that he had considered accepting the Perangsang job on the instruction of Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and wrote to tell the PKR de facto leader that he was willing to take on the job for only RM1 per month.
“It is suffice for Dr Syed Husin to do his homework before he shoots his mouth. It is recorded in my computer plus other evidence, that Datuk Seri Anwar received the e-mail and acted on it,” said Salehuddin.
Syed Husin Ali earlier claimed Salehuddin was unhappy with the party after his application to be the Perangsang chief executive officer which comes with a salary of RM50,000 per month was rejected.
Syed Husin’s allegations appeared to be part of a campaign to discredit party rebels as he had yesterday disclosed that former Penang deputy chief minister Mohd Fairus Khairuddin was paid RM4,000 a month despite quitting his state post and Penanti seat.
Syed Husin also claimed that Salehudin was paid RM9,000 a month as the secretary-general and initially demanded for US$3,000 (RM10,160).
“Yes, I worked as the Organising Secretary and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s Chief of Staff for a total of four years, full time, free of charge,” said Salehuddin adding that he wanted to retire after Election 2008.
“Subsequently there was a plea from Dato’ Seri Anwar for me to serve as Secretary-General full time. With much reluctance, I accepted it with many, many conditions, some of which are a proper party headquarters, adequate salaries for the staff and as I have already served 4 years as Organising Secretary using my own money for office expenses, I requested a RM100 a day allowance for incidentals,” he added.
“RM9,000 is a pittance compared to the hours I put in and my last drawn salary before retirement, and compared to the enormous amount paid to various peoples within and outside the Party without having to do anything but simply to make them happy and to keep them quiet,” said Salehuddin without disclosing the details of the payments made.
He also advised Syed Husin not to stoop so low in attacking him.
“I only wish for the sake of all the people who long for change in this country for Dr Syed Husin of such a high calibre background to please at least raise the bar a bit from such childish ways. But then I understand, it would be hard to teach old dogs new tricks,” said Salehuddin.
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