PETALING JAYA: The Selangor government's attempt to audit Yayasan Basmi Kemiskinan (YBK) was thwarted when officers from the Selangor Secretariat Office's (SUK) internal audit section were asked to leave yesterday morning.

"We told the officers if they want to audit our assets and properties, they must correspond with our lawyers first," YBK chairman Datuk Zainal Abidin Sakom told The Malay Mail, adding that two officers the foundation office arrived at the YBK's premises in Kelana Jaya here at about 10am.

BANDAR BARU BANGI: Newly formed group Gerakan Anti Liwat (GELI) is urging the government to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry to look into the issue of a VCD that it alleged is being distributed to residents of Bandar Baru Bangi.

PETALING JAYA: Barisan Nasional (BN), especially Umno, must not be pressured into siding NGOs that fight for special rights of a specific race if they want to win the hearts of the people, caution most political observers.

Political analyst Wong Chin Huat said the newly-formed coalition of NGOs, namely Malay Consultative Council (MPM), is using its platform as a desperate means of pushing the racial agenda and if Umno allows itself to be  "blackmailed" by the group, it will lose the middle ground to Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

PETALING JAYA: Nibong Tebal MP Tan Tee Beng today apologised to his party Parti Keadilan Rakyat, especially to party vice-president Dr Syed Husin Ali, and expressed hope of moving forward together with the party as a family.

PETALING JAYA: The People's Progressive Party information chief A. Chandrakumanan is challenging former Youth chief Datuk T. Murugiah to prove his claims that party president M. Kayveas had offered Murugiah's supporters "incentives" to switch allegiances.

"As a Deputy Minister (in the Prime Minister's Department), he shouldn't be shooting off his mouth like a loose cannon. These are highly defamatory claims that he made and he must prove them or else he can be sued," he said.

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.

PETALING JAYA: Nibong Tebal MP Tan Tee Beng is still silent on whether he will stay with Parti Keadilan Rakyat or leave.

He declined to reveal his plans but said in a text message to The Malay Mail yesterday: "All I can say is I am still a PKR man."

KUALA LUMPUR: Bar Council vice-president Lim Chee Wee has urged Hazlinda to lodge a report against the lawyer with the Bar Council's disciplinary board.

He clarified it was not the role of the client to file an application in court to discharge his or her legal representative from an ongoing case.

"When it comes to contentious matters, when a client tells the lawyer that his services are terminated the lawyer must return all documents on the case.

PETALING JAYA: Members of the Pakatan Rakyat coalition want Bayan Baru MP Datuk Seri Zahrain Mohd Hashim to resign from his parliamentary seat to make way for a by-election.

They echoed PKR election director Fuziah Salleh's challenge for Zahrain to resign for a by-election to be called.

PKR strategy director Tian Chua said Zahrain's action was precisely what had led to the political turmoil in Perak, resulting in the change in the State government after three PR assemblymen defected to become BN-friendly independents last year.

PETALING JAYA: Parti Keadilan Rakyat's secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has clarified that its former disciplinary committee chairman Datuk Yeop Adlan Che Rose had resigned "last year".

Saifuddin, who took over as the new PKR secretary-general in January, said he was not aware why Yeop Adlan had resigned.

"The reason is secondary. What's important was that he has resigned and a new chairman was appointed," he said.

PETALING JAYA: The recent media reports of infighting within the Pakatan Rakyat coalition has given rise to questions on how serious the 'cracks' in the fragile partnership between PKR, DAP and Pas is — and how much longer the partnership can be maintained.

The severity of the situation has also led DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang to express concern on his blogsite.

On Saturday, Lim stressed in his posting that the "internal haemorrhaging" must end, particularly when Umno and Barisan Nasional were intensifying their political offensive.

PUTRAJAYA: The Home Ministry has completed auditing half of the security firms in the Klang Valley.

Deputy secretary-general (security) Datuk Ahmad Fuad Ab Aziz told The Malay Mail yesterday three audit teams, consisting of two ministry enforcement officers and two Security Services Association of Malaysia (SSAM) representatives have audited 163 of the 311 security firms in the Klang Valley (central zone).

"Most of the firms abide by the rules and guidelines set by the ministry," he said.

KULIM: A fight is certainly on the cards with controversial Kulim MP Zulkifli Noordin, threatened with disciplinary action for lodging a police report against a fellow Member of Parliament over remarks on the equally controversial "allah" issue, this morning unflinching in his stance.

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IT was the start of a new era for Johor when Tunku Ibrahim Ismail Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar ascended the throne as the new Sultan of Johor on Saturday.

The 51-year-old ruler, known as a prince who is close to the people, took the oath in accordance with the Johor State Constitution 1895.

 

PETALING JAYA: Barisan Nasional politicians yesterday hit out at Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) over its briefing of foreign diplomats, in what was reported by an online news portal as an "attempt to influence international opinion, and to lobby for support over his (Anwar Ibrahim) second sodomy allegation in a decade".

Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Ali Rustam said that Anwar should prove himself in court.

PETALING JAYA: The meeting between Malaysian and Indonesian officials to resolve the domestic maid recruitment stalemate, originally postponed from December to later this month, has again been postponed to next month.

PETALING JAYA: The Hulu Selangor District Council has no problem with the development of the RM300 million UiTM campus project in Serendah.

In fact, the council wants it to proceed as it believes the development will spur the economy of the area.

Council president Tukiman Nail told I yesterday that the council had years ago given its nod to Yayasan Basmi Kemiskinan (Selangor Darul Ehsan) to carry out the RM300 million project.

"However, when the matter was brought to the Selangor State Planning Committee, it was not agreeable to the project," he said.

PETALING JAYA: Yayasan Basmi Kemiskinan (Selangor Darul Ehsan) has been advised by its lawyers to lodge a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) against the Selangor government's post-for-project decision.

SERENDAH: For the residents at Taman Seri Serendah, the main talk in recent months has been the possibility of a new college coming up in the area, next to the Serendah Golf Resort.

Resident R. Ganeson, 45, told The Malay Mail he heard of this development six months ago, during a chat with three people who seeking directions to the Serendah Golf Resort, also known as the Serendah Golf Links.

"The two men and one woman in a four-wheel drive vehicle said they were civil engineers and were going to survey the area for the development of a new college campus.