Sabah 12 to appear before PKR disciplinary body today

By Luke Rintod

KOTA KINABALU: The 12 Sabah PKR leaders implicated of trying to form a break-away party last year will appear before the party disciplinary committee in Kota Kinabalu tomorrow, reliable sources said this afternoon.

However, not all of them will be attending. At least two are said to have taken ill.

The three-member committee will start hearing their testimonies or explanations at 8.30am at the party's liaison office in Bundusan Road in Penampang near here.

A check with the PKR office here revealed that all three members of the committee are already in town.

The 12 hauled up for their alleged involvement in attempting to register Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS) last year are Daniel John Jambun, Awang Ahmad Sah Awang Sahari, Mozes Iking, Paul Kerangkas, Innocent Makajil, Sylvester Balon, Harry Manisit, Dr Nicholas Guntobon, Guandee Kohoi, Rubbin Guribah, Gonsubin Yosundang and Nasir Sami.

All of them are aligned to PKR strongman Dr Jeffrey Kitingan with seven or eight of them eyeing for top postions in the divisional elections next month.

Members transferred

Meanwhile, another controversy has cropped up in the run-up to the elections with party sources complaining that names of members of several divisions have been transferred to other divisions.

"I'm shocked to find out that about 100 members in Keningau had been transferred to far away Tawau," alleged one leader who requested anonymity.

Another from Penampang alleged that suddenly many new unknown members were on the list a few weeks ago, and after a search many were found to be outsiders including also from Tawau.

Another divisional leader claimed that certain leaders are withholding meeting notices and pre-selecting which group would be notified while keeping other groups in the dark.

Under an unprecedented direct voting system, PKR is to give ample notice to each of its members on details of date and venue of nomination and polling.

Most of the 26 divisions in Sabah including one in Labuan have more than 2,000 members each.

National congress in November

The cut-off date of eligibility to vote is Aug 27 which means only those registered on or before that date are eligible to cast their votes.

Nominations have been fixed for the divisions either on Aug 28 or 29 while polling is either Sept 18 or 19.

Under PKR's unique system, state liaison chiefs will be elected by the divisional heads and there is a keen tussle for the posts.

Polling to elect PKR national office bearers will be held in October, also through direct voting by all members.

The national annual congress will be held in November where the delegates' system is retained.

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 17:50