NRI Malaysian MP to quit from PKR party

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, Dec. 28, 2008
Sampuran Singh

NRI S. Manikavasagam, MP, 43, is quitting from PKR party because he was disappointed with the attitude of Selangor PKR (Parti Keadalan Rakyat) leaders, who he claimed had neglected the needs of the people. He is also a member of PKR’s supreme council and one of its Selangor liaison deputy chairmen.

He said:

• He will make an official announcement before Wednesday.
• He had made up his mind and it’s final. He is not joking and he is very serious this time
• He had expressed his intention to do so a few days ago.
• This decision is indeed a firm action and it will be his New Year ‘gift’ to the party
• He must leave PKR to become an independent MP as he was disappointed with the attitude of Selangor PKR leaders.
• His voters know that he has been serving them and he does not want to be cheated again after 50 years

Manikavasagam had also been called a liar for his involvement in the protest against the move of the Klang bus and taxi station to a new location at Klang Sentral in Kapar. He had been accused by a fellow PKR leader of acting like the opposition and very disappointed. He had to get support from other PKR leaders when faced with criticism from other state assemblymen.

The Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), The Democratic Action Party (DAP) and Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) formed the loose PR alliance a month after the opposition's biggest-ever electoral success in the March general election.

There is major issue, the party is spliting because the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) alliance is the insistence by one of its members, Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), to push ahead with its agenda of imposing hudud or Islamic criminal laws.

The Democratic Action Party (DAP), chairman Karpal Singh draws its support mostly from the Chinese and Indian communities, is deeply opposed to the proposed laws which, among other things, allow for the amputation of limbs for thieves and caning for adulterers.

Umno politicians fret less about whether it is possible to govern this country of 26 million people without the two-thirds majority in Parliament; and foreign diplomats here have called time predicting the fall of the government.

• A Man of Principals & Conscience

S. Manikavasagam, Malaysian MP, a Man of Principals & Conscience