Penang DAP rep chides PKR 5 over trust and honesty

The Penang government can accept differing views but the main issue in the move by five PKR backbenchers, who abstained from voting against a Barisan Nasional (BN) motion last November, is about honesty and trust, says DAP rep Wong Hon Wai. Wong, political secretary to Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, said the five had gone against a collective decision made during a pre-council meeting before the state legislative assembly in November concerning the BN motion on land reclamation. He said the PKR reps attended the meeting where it was decided that the BN motion would be voted down but did not tell anyone of their decision to abstain. "Penang Pakatan Harapan assemblymen including the five PKR backbenchers attended a pre-council meeting before the commencement of state assembly and the meeting reached a decision to vote against (BN's) motion. "Later, the five PKR backbenchers went against the collective decision and did not inform the government and their party colleagues in advance about their abstention votes. "This is an ambush against their own government and no difference from back-stabbing. They must respect the state government just as they want the state government to respect them," Wong said in a statement today. Wong, who is also Air Itam assemblyman, was responding to news reports of Penang PKR chairman Datuk Mansor Othman defending the five. Mansor yesterday said Penang PKR stood by the five elected reps who abstained from voting against the motion on land reclamation during the state legislative assembly sitting last November. Mansor said they were merely voicing out the interest of the people and the state. The five – Bukit Tengah rep Ong Chin Wen, Kebun Bunga rep Cheah Kah Peng, Batu Uban rep Dr T. Jayabalan, Penanti rep Dr Norlela Ariffin and Machang Bubuk rep Lee Khai Loon – had since then been repeatedly slammed by their DAP counterparts, particularly the chief minister, who had accused them of betrayal. Ong and Cheah were recently removed from their director positions in the boards of state government linked companies chaired by Lim. Wong also responded to a recent statement by Norlela, who referred to the codes of ethics of Pakatan Harapan to justify her abstention. "I am very sure the Pakatan Harapan codes of ethics do not have such things as allowing back-stabbing," he said. – February 29, 2016.]]>