Estranged Bayan Baru Parliamentarian Mohd Zahrain Hashim (below) received a shocker yesterday when he was presented with a petition carrying 2,108 signatures, asking him to vacate his seat before Parliament reconvenes on March 15.
State Assemblyperson for Pantai Jerejak, Sim Tze Tsin, said the signatures were collected in two days from constituents residing around the Bayan Baru market and Tapak Pesta area in Sungai Nibong, Penang.
Pantai Jerejak is a state seat under Bayan Baru.
“Many people felt cheated by Zahrain's action to leave the party, so we have to send him this message,” said Sim, who is also the deputy youth chief of Penang PKR.
“I was told that Zahrain was shocked, looked pale and discouraged upon receiving the petition, but he accepted it anyway, as the people have spoken,” he added.
Sim (right) also claimed that this was Zahrain's first visit to his constituency after a three-month 'disappearance'.
But the MP has clarified in a news report that he had been away in the US with several BN MPs since his resignation from the party.
The petition was handed over to Zahrain by Bayan Baru division leader Ahmad Azrizal Tahir at the Dewan Tabung Haji in Bayan Lepas, about 4pm yesterday.
Malaysiakini was unable to contact Zahrain for comments last night despite several attempts on his mobile phone. There was also no response to mobile text messsages to the parliamentarian.
Zahrain quit the party on February 12 following his accusations that Penang chief minister and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng was "a dictator, a chauvinist and communist-minded" in January.
His allegations sparked a series of verbal wars between him and PKR, DAP and PAS leaders.
Since his resignation, Zahrain has declared himself an Independent MP, but denied betraying his voters.
In an exclusive interview with Bernama yesterday, he vowed he would not relinquish his position as he was elected by about 27,000 voters in the 2008 general elections.
He said he believed not everyone wanted him to vacate his seat, as it was only a small group of detractors influenced by PKR wanted him to quit.
On rumours that he is to rejoin Umno, Zahrain said he had no intention of joining any party after quitting PKR.
“I will be an independent. I will stand on my own”, he said.
courtesy of Malaysiakini
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