PENANG: Bayan Baru Member of Parliament (MP) Datuk Seri Mohd Zahrain Hashim has reiterated that he would not relinquish his position as MP.

He said he would not give in to pressure from those calling on him to vacate the seat as he is an elected representative for Bayan Baru.

"I am very clear with my stand and I would like to continue serving the people, especially in Bayan Baru, as an independent MP," he said in an exclusive interview with Bernama at his new office in Bayan Baru, here, today.

TUARAN: The Perak state government wants to learn the Sabah approach that succeeded in strengthening solidaity among the various races and religions in the state, said Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir.

He said like Sabah, Perak had a composition of various races and religions and wanted to unite its people so that development projects can be carried out effectively.

"We want to see from which angle solidarity is built, especially in the context of Barisan Nasional and Umno.

PETALING JAYA: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) vicepresident R. Sivarasa defended the party and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) in dealing with coalition issues. He also considers sacked PKR member Kulim Bandar Baharu MP Zulkifli Nordin's latest criticism of double standards as irrelevant.

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) Youth annual general meeting scheduled for tomorrow has been postponed to a later date. The decision to reschedule was made in view of the latest developments in the party, said party Youth chief Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong after chairing the wing’s central committee members meeting here this morning.

The committee, he added, had also taken into consideration the pros and cons before arriving at the decision.

"I have no obligation to apologise to him. I criticised his policies, and he retaliated with a personal attack which tarnished my character and credibility as a politician and MP.

PETALING JAYA: If there is evidence of members breaching party principles, Pas will take action against them, says its vice-president Salahuddin Ayub.

He said the party did not act at its whims and fancies when executing disciplinary action against its members.

“Complaints against members must be supported with evidence,” he told The Malay Mail.

PUTRAJAYA: DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang was lambasted yesterday by Umno leaders for trying to stir up racial tensions between Malays and Chinese.

"Please just clean up issues within your party before making any more accusations," said Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor in response to a report that Lim had accused Umno as being the biggest enemy of the prime minister’s 1Malaysia concept of inclusiveness.

"The opposition party seems to be having their internal problems and are looking to divert the public's attention," he added.

PETALING JAYA: Parti Keadilan Rakyat leaders are firmly behind Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on his admission that he had fielded the "wrong" candidates in the last General Elections.

Party secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said unlike Barisan Nasional, especially Umno, PKR was a party whose leaders have the courage to own up to their mistakes and act to rectify them.

PENANG: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim admitted today to have wrongly picked some candidates to be the party's parliamentary elected representatives in the last general election in
2008.

Anwar, who is Opposition Leader, said the party would be extra careful in the selection of electoral candidates in coming general elections, ensuring that they were unwavering, strong and clean.

PENDANG: Umno leaders especially at the division level are urged to continue to get close to the rakyat as there are indications that Kedah will revert to the Barisan Nasional (BN) in the next general election.

Kedah Umno liaison chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, said it was most important to champion the cause of the people by going down to grassroots to listen to their woes and resolve their problems.

SIK: Penang Umno yesterday suggested the setting up of a commission to study the feasibility of a Penang state Pakatan Rakyat (PR) government helmed by the DAP.

Its chairman, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, said the commission was suitable as the opposition coalition was always calling for a commission to investigate the Barisan Nasional (BN) government's weaknesses.

"The opposition DAP very easily hurls accusations on the (federal) government, calling for a commission, and to produce a white paper.

KUALA LUMPUR: Special Officer to the Prime Minister, Datuk Nasir Safar will tender his resignation from the post following racist remarks he allegedly made at a 1Malaysia seminar in Melaka today.

The Prime Minister's office in a statement issued here Tuesday night said the remarks allegedly made by Nasir "does not in any way reflect the views of the Prime Minister."

"Datuk Nasir never intended to make any derogatory remarks. He spoke at length on the contributions made by all races in developing the country.

"Nevertheless, Nasir apologises for any offence caused.

SHAH ALAM: The eight-month-old Malaysia Makkal Sakti Party aims to increase its membership by 300,000, from 57,000 currently, by end of this year.

Party founder and national president, R.S. Thanenthiran, said extensive programmes to recruit members would be planned this year including through online sites and web blogs before the next general election.

KUALA LUMPUR: MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu today urged party leaders to "reconnect" with the Indian masses who had been the "vote bank" of the Barisan Nasional (BN) since the party's formation in 1946.

He said this was because in the March 2008 general election, they had taken for granted the support from the Indian masses that had been traditionally voting for the BN and ensuring a huge victory for the ruling coalition.

KUALA LUMPUR: Regarded as a renegade by many in MCA, its vice-president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai says he is not power crazy in wanting fresh party elections.

“It was never my personal wish from the beginning. All I am doing is reflecting the wishes of party members who think that the episode can only come to an acceptable closure through fresh polls,” said the Health Minister.

KUALA LUMPUR:  A new system need to be implemented to monitor the attendance of Barisan Nasional (BN) Member of Parliament (MP) at Dewan Rakyat sittings.

Gerakan President Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon made the call as an initiative to avoid a recurrence of the slim majority win during a block voting on Dec 14, to approve the 2010 Budget, in Parliament.

He said members of the BN Backbenchers Club (BNBBC) can play their role in the coordination of the system to ensure MPs from BN exceeded the number of opposition MPs during the morning, afternoon and evening sessions.

KUALA LUMPUR: A high profile plane crash 36 years ago became a hot topic when a deputy minister tried to shed some light on the tragedy which cost the life of the then Sabah Chief Minister, Tun Fuad Stephens, among others.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Sessions Court here today acquitted and discharged a primary school senior assistant of two counts of offering bribes in the Raub Umno division elections.

Judge Rosbiahanin Ariffin ruled that the prosecution had failed to make out a prima facie case against Junaidi Abdul Hamid.

Junaidi, 46, represented by counsel Aishaton Abu Bakar, was alleged to have offered RM200 to Adnan Samad to vote for Datuk Mustafar Kamal Abdul Hamid as Raub Umno division head and Datuk Abdullah Bakar as deputy head.

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said today MCA leaders have agreed in principle to hold fresh party elections.

The prime minister said, however, that they needed time to submit their resignation letters to enable the polls to be held.

"The MCA is aware that it has to resolve the conflict (within the party) in a specific time frame. If it cannot be speeded up, it should not be delayed too much," he said after attending the fifth workshop in a series on the National Key Result Areas (NKRAs), here.