KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today said he reacted with disbelief when told about the alleged wrongdoings by two PKR members.
The PKR president said he asked to see the letter sent by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to his party on Oct 23.
Anwar said he was first informed by the party’s disciplinary board chairman Datuk Ahmad Kassim of the letter recommending action against Bera division chief Zakaria Abdul Hamid and Pahang PKR member Ismail Dulhadi.
Unconvinced that the alleged crimes were “that serious”, Anwar asked that the letter be shown to him before agreeing to dismiss the pair from the party.
“The allegations were very serious. I read the recommendations that action ought to be taken against the two (members), with evidence of power abuse and bribery. It’s a serious matter,” he told reporters in Parliament today.
The sacking of Zakaria, who is also a PKR central leadership committee member, and Ismail, has led to a split in opinions among party members, with some saying that the party was being selective in its actions.
However, Anwar defended the party’s decision, saying it had to act strictly against any form of corruption to show that the party was serious in fighting graft.
“We cannot take this matter for granted,” he added.
On MACC’s statement that it had made a mistake in sending the letter to PKR, advising action against the two members, Anwar said this does not negate the fact that the allegations made against them were serious in nature.
“The rest, I will leave it up to the disciplinary board to decide,” he said, adding that Zakaria and Ismail would still be allowed to appeal their sackings.
MACC deputy chief commissioner (operations) Datuk Seri Azam Baki had said on Monday that the anti-graft body was only required to report wrongdoings to ministries, federal or state agencies and not to political parties.
