KUALA LUMPUR, 2 Dec 2008: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today denied that the party would make Barisan Nasional’s Seberang Jaya state assemblyman Datuk Arif Shah Omar Shah the Penang deputy chief minister I if he joined PKR.
While welcoming Arif Shah to join PKR, Anwar said the post of deputy chief minister I had been filled.
“I feel we have to be fair to Arif Shah. He has not demanded anything that we consider to be unreasonable. He has not mentioned the post of deputy chief minister and we did not discuss that. That is mere talk.
“We are prepared to accept him as a politician and state assemblyman for Seberang Jaya. There has not been any official decision, only discussions with party representatives. I was told there has been no final decision,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby, here.
Arif Shah had been quoted by newspapers as saying that he was disappointed with Permatang Pauh Umno chief Datuk Abdul Jalil Abdul Majid and the Permatang Pauh division for ignoring him and that he had been invited by PKR to join the party.
Asked about the alleged under-performance of Penang Deputy Chief Minister I Mohamad Fairuz Khairuddin, Anwar said the work performance of all PKR leaders was evaluated.
“At PKR, we always evaluate the performance of our leaders. I have been admonished. Tian Chua (PKR Information Chief) has been admonished and Fairuz has been admonished.
“Reprimands have been issued, evaluations have been made. It is not right to say that the evaluations were just on Fairuz because they were for everyone and we seek to have all weaknesses rectified,” he said. — Bernama
