MB's office dispels Khairy's claims
Malaysiakini.com
Jun 24, 2008

The press secretariat of the Selangor MB has refuted allegations that Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim ‘cleared' his subordinate Yahya Sahri of abuse of power on behalf of the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA).
MCPX

khairy jamaluddin parliament pc 230608 04Earlier this morning in Parliament, Khairy Jamaluddin (BN-Rembau) in a supplementary question enquired whether it was appropriate for Khalid to make statements before the ACA had completed their investigation.

Hours later, an unsigned press release from the press secretariat stated that Khalid was only relaying written information he received from the ACA on June 11 - when he said in the Yahya case there were no elements of corruption - and was not acting on behalf of the agency.

The letter by the Selangor ACA director had read that investigations were completed and advised Khalid on matters pertaining to transparency and accountability, particularly in issues concerning official correspondences and the issuance of ‘support letters'.

The press release added that Khalid replied a week later thanking the agency and invited them to place an officer at the state government headquarters in Shah Alam to perform a follow up probe and to study how administration procedures can be done transparently and accountability.

"It is clear that allegations of the Selangor menteri besar had made statements on behalf of the ACA are not true," said the press secretariat.

Khairy was quizzing de facto law minister Nazri Abdul Aziz at question time when he referred to the abuse of power in the awarding of cleaning contracts, allegedly by Khalid's special officer Yahya.

Khalid, who is also Bandar Tun Razak MP, tried to invoke Regulation 36 (12) of the Standing Orders, so that he could clarify the matter but was denied permission to speak by the deputy speaker.

Suspension

In a related matter, the press secretariat also elaborated on the reasons for Yahya's suspension from official duties.

The press release said that even though ACA investigations had been completed, the menteri besar's office felt it was necessary to re-evaluate all dealings and communications by the officer in question.

In order to perform a detailed and fair probe, the state government had decided to suspend Yahya pending the outcome of the probe, added the press secretariat.

"However, the said officer had already resigned via a faxed letter last night. Even so, the probe will still continue to ensure that the integrity of the menteri besar's office is not tarnished," said the press secretariat.

The press secretariat stressed that the menteri besar's office viewed the matter very seriously because it involved transparency and accountability.

"Thus, the menteri besar would not hesitate to take action against the officer even though everyone is aware that it is not a popular decision at party level," read the concluding remarks of the press release.

Khalid has already stressed that Yahya would have his job back should he be cleared by both the ACA and the state government's internal probe.

Yesterday, an irate Yahya claimed that his suspension had made him look guilty in the eyes of the public. He has also resigned from his post as Selangor PKR secretary.

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