MEDIA STATEMENT BY ZAKARIA ABDUL HAMID
1. I refer to the statement made by Keadilan Secretary General Saifuddin Nasution and Keadilan President Anwar Ibrahim regarding my sacking from the party yesterday.
2. Firstly, Anwar and Saifudin have repeatedly said that the sacking was based upon the recommendation of the MACC. This is false, and calculated to grossly mislead party members and the public.
3. In fact, paragraph 4 of the letter from the MACC to Keadilan enclosing the so-called report clearly envisages that an enquiry is to be held into the complaint against me by the party disciplinary board. Why did Anwar, Saifudin and the disciplinary board ignore this? In clear breach of this, I was sacked without even an enquiry. This is in breach of every known principle of decency and justice.
4. The most basic right to be heard, which even a murderer is given, was denied to me. Instead, the President and Sec-Gen have been taking pot-shots at me through the media. I am a small party member, but they bully me relentlessly.
5. I am particularly appalled that the so-called icon of reformasi Anwar is defending this unjust act against me. Have factional politics in our party gone to such extremes that the leadership has lost all sense of right and wrong?
6. Secondly, I am shocked by the spin put on the facts of this case by Saifudin. The facts are clear. I told the meeting of ranting members that there are small projects from the Housing Ministry for which the members can apply from the relevant Majlis Daerah. Let me emphasise that they were only asked to apply for it. What is wrong with that? Where is the offence? The ultimate decision whether to award any small project is up to the authority concerned. And in fact, finally, none of them were awarded any project at all.
7. Thirdly, the Deputy Chief Commissioner of MACC Datuk Azam Baki has confirmed that the DPP has decided that there will be no prosecution against me. It is thus mischievous and ill-intentioned of Anwar and Saifuddin to give the false perception that I have committed the offence of corruption.
8. Fourthly, Anwar and Saifudin pretend that it is not important that the MACC has said that the letter was wrongly issued. This is truly shocking, and suggests that they do not understand the importance of having a fair process in judging disciplinary matters.
9. I reiterate that my sacking was unlawful and unjust, and call upon Anwar, Saifudin and the party leadership to set things right. I further call upon them to stop hiding behind the MACC and dangling its name to hide their own wrongdoing. They must instead act fairly in accordance with the principles of reformasi.
