Penang Deputy Chief Minister I Mansor Othman said he was not surprised by the decision of his predecessor to join Umno, adding that it was not a loss to PKR.
“It is not a surprise, we had already expected it,” Mansor told The Malaysian Insider.
Last night, former Penang Deputy Chief Minister Mohd Fairus Khairuddin submitted his application to join Umno to Datuk Seri Najib Razak, making him the latest Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim ally to abandon PKR.
Fairus said he decided to join Umno after considering the developments over the past three months after the controversial “Allah” ruling.
“Fairus was not an active member of PKR, even Zahrain’s departure does not affect the state,” said Mansor, referring to Bayan Baru MP Datuk Seri Zahrain Hashim who quit following his spat with Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, whom he had called a “dictator, a chauvinist and communist-minded”.
Zahrain was the Penang PKR chairman until he was dropped in favour of Mansor last November.
Mansor also said the party will be more stringent in the selection of candidates for the next general election after what happened to Fairus and Zahrain.
Fairus, 33, quit as Penanti assemblyman in April last year, ostensibly to pursue post-graduate studies and spend time with his family.
Apart from being DCM I, he was also the Penang state executive councillor for entrepreneur and co-operative development, information and community relations.
His resignation triggered a by-election which Mansor won after defeating an independent. Barisan Nasional (BN) boycotted the election, describing it as a waste of public funds as it was caused by PKR’s internal problems.
Just two weeks ago, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) cleared Fairus and seven other high-profile politicians for graft.
news courtesy of Malaysian Insider
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