Pua says spat with PKR over Deepavali bazaar won’t affect party ties

DAP lawmaker Tony Pua today said he made public his grievances over the Deepavali bazaar site incident because he had wanted PKR to take action against the members involved that day. He said he had recognised PKR members among the crowd that disrupted his press conference at the bazaar site in Sungai Way on October 15. "We were hoping that the PKR leaders will ensure that none of their members or grassroots leaders behave in such a way," Pua told reporters after recording his statement at the Petaling Jaya District Police Headquarters over the case. He said this when asked why he had posted the matter on his Facebook instead of resolving the issue privately with PKR. Pua also denied that the controversy, which had later escalated into an online spat between him and PKR Subang MP R Sivarasa, had affected ties between the two parties. "As far as I'm concerned, the government is still standing. It is an issue that needs to be resolved in Sungai Way, in MBPJ," he said, referring to the Petaling Jaya City Council by its Malay initials. "It doesn't affect the ties between the parties." He pointed out that lawmakers from both parties had held up the "Mana RM2.6 billion?" (Where is the 2.6 billion) placards during the end of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's Budget 2016 speech in the Dewan Rakyat on Friday. When asked if he and Sivarasa had resolved their differences, Pua said he believed all was "okay" between them. "He's now seated next to me in Parliament. He came and shook my hand. So... okay lah," said Pua, who is Petaling Jaya Utara MP. He said that the matter was not entirely resolved, as it was now up to PKR to "take the necessary actions". "If they decide not to take action, there's nothing I can do because it's a matter by PKR. We will continue to assist traders at the new site to ensure they have good business," he added. Sivarasa could not be reached for comments over the matter. Two weeks ago, Pua said his visit to the Sungai Way village Deepavali Bazaar site, which is under his constituency, was disrupted by a group of thugs, including S Murali, who is PKR's Kelana Jaya division secretary. Pua also wrote on his Facebook that traders who had "obtained licences to trade from MBPJ were stopped from trading by a group of gangsters led by a Samy and a Murali". Pua's Facebook post prompted Sivarasa to issue a "friendly advice" on his blog over the matter, which Pua quickly rebutted with another press statement. Meanwhile, on Twitter, DAP's Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng and PKR legal advisor Latheefa Koya argued over the issue, and called each other "thugs" and "childish". Pua said today he was called to the police station to help them with two investigation cases – one on the incident at the bazaar site, and secondly, over an image of a tweet he had allegedly posted, calling Indian Malaysians "pariah" and "thugs". Pua said in the first case, he was merely a witness and had recounted to the police what transpired that day. With regards to the second case, Pua said he had told the police today that the tweet was fake. – October 25, 2015.]]>