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NST Online 

2009/05/16

PPP's Murugiah explains meeting with PM Najib

IPOH, Sat: People's Progressive Party (PPP) supreme council member, Datuk T. Murugiah, said today he had given an explanation to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak for fear that the accusations against him (Murugiah) would tarnish the image of the government.

"I gave an explanation to the prime minister. He knows what's happening. I met the prime minister because the accusations against me are serious and can tarnish the image of the government," he told reporters after launching the sports carnival of the Kinta District Tamil schools here. 

Murugiah, who is deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department, was asked to comment on a statement by PPP president Datuk M. Kayveas that Murugiah should have met him (Kayveas) and not Najib to resolve problems in the party. 

Murugiah declined to elaborate on his meeting with Najib but said he would continue to discharge his duties as a deputy minister and in charge of the Public Complaints Bureau. 

The PPP's disciplinary board this afternoon dismissed Murugiah from the party based on his actions which were deemed to be detrimental to the party’s interests. Six other party members were also sacked. 
The six party members expelled are M.Jeyaratnam, N.Shanmuganathan, K.Tanggaraju, S.Kanesan, S.Saravanan and R.Rajandran, according to a statement issued by the board after its meeting today. 

Thirty-nine disciplinary board members attended the two-hour meeting. Also present was the party's president Datuk M.Kayveas.

Pursuant to Article 19.2, those unhappy with the decision can appeal in writing within 14 days from the date of the decision to the Supreme Council for the attention of the Secretary General, the board said. 

"We feel very sad to make this decision as we have given time to T. Murugiah to meet the Supreme Council on many occasions for the past 10 months. Looks like all of them have asked to be sacked," the board said.

The board said Murugiah was sacked for using his Deputy Minister's office in the Prime Minister's Department to organise a press conference which tarnished the good name of the party and making highly defamatory remarks against the party, the Supreme Council and party's leadership.

It also said that Murugiah used a bankrupt to make the defamatory remarks against the party as the party would be unable to take any legal action against a bankrupt. 

Furthermore, Murugiah had threathened the party's lawyer and a supreme council member that he would use all his powers to get PPP deregistered.

"This action the Disciplinary Board considers as a very serious offence under the party constitution and cannot be excused without facing disiplinary action. The asking of your own party to be deregistered tantamounts to be an action by traitors of any organisation," the board said.

On May 9, PPP's Supreme Council had made an overwhelming request for Murugiah to be sacked from the party but the decision was deferred by Kayveas. This was simply because the president was kind enough giving him ample opportunity and time to patch up with the Supreme Council members and the state leaders, the board said.

"When the party did not sack him and neither took any disciplinary action against him, he created an atmosphere that he was sacked and attempted to get sympathy from various sources," the board said.

With the decision, the board said that PPP would not "say anything against this seven people".

Likewise, they said, the expelled members were advised not to speak anything about party and leadership anymore as they remain expelled until the hearing of their appeal. 

Meanwhile, Selangor PPP plans to hold and extraordinary general meeting to ask its members to approve a motion for a vote-of-no-confidence to be instituted against Kayveas. - BERNAMA