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PKR clears the air on Arumugam’s second wife

February 10th, 2009
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Since its in the open that Arumugam has some personal difficulties related to marital issues, PKR came out with the explanation:

PKR supreme council member Datuk Johari Abdul has described the personal problems faced by V. Arumugam as not a scandal but a misunderstanding.

He said the problems were linked to the legal status of Arumugam’s “second wife.”

“A non-Muslim man cannot have more than one wife under the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 unless he divorces his first wife.

“Arumugam married his second wife some eight or nine years ago by religious rites,” said Johari.

He said Arumugam had not registered the customary marriage because he was still legally married to his first wife of 19 years.

Asked whether Arumugam’s resignation was related to a memorandum that had been submitted to the Kedah Sultan alleging he had insulted the palace by bringing his “second wife” to official functions, Johari, who is also MP for Sungei Petani said:

“To me, this is all just a misunderstanding that has been triggered by certain parties to create uncertainty.”

“Arumugam married his second wife some eight or nine years ago, but this is being raised now. Clearly, this seems to be a ploy to bring him down,” he said.

In Alor Setar, state government sources said that the memorandum was submitted to the Sultan on Tuesday by several residents of Sungai Petani.

They said Arumugam had breached Section 7 (1) of the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 by taking a second wife without divorcing his first.

They also questioned the woman’s legal status to marry.

“We have photographs to prove that they married according to religious rites,” said the sources.

Attempts to contact Arumugam have been unsuccessful.

What does Hinduism say on taking a second wife? Anyone can answer?

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Indian candidate likely for Bukit Selambau

February 10th, 2009
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Anwar Ibrahim is quoted saying:

“Most probably we’ll also choose an Indian candidate in place,”

PKR’s B Kalaivanar, who contested the Gurun state seat in the last general election, is touted as an early favourite. Kalaivanar had lost to MCA’s Leong Yong Kong in the previous outing.

Anwar wrote in his blog thanking Arumugam for his services to the party. For the record, Arumugam won the Bukit Selambau seat by defeating Barisan Nasional (MIC) candidate S Krishnan with a majority of 7,695 votes.

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Kedah assemblyman Arumugam resigns

February 9th, 2009
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As revealed by Malaysiakini earlier, Kedah’s Bukit Selambau state assemblyman Arumugam (PKR) has resigned. There were some confusion earlier, with some claims that he resigned from his EXCO post only. Arumugam has gone missing but his resignation letter has been submitted. So, looks like sole Indian rep in Kedah is no more. Will PKR submit another Indian candidate?

Kedah Menteri Besar Azizan Abdul Razak today announced that exco member V Arumugam has stepped down as the state assemblyperson for Bukit Selambau, necessitating in a by-election in next 60 days.

“With regret I would like to announce that Arumugam has resigned as the Bukit Selambau state assemblyperson with immediate effect,” he told reporters at his official residence in Alor Star.

Azizan said that he received Arumugam’s resignation letter dated Feb 8 at 5pm today.

He also said that a copy of the letter was also handed over to state assembly speaker Abd Isa Ismail, who will now have to declare the seat vacant and inform the Election Commission to call for a by-election.

This was Azizan’s second announcement in regards to Arumugam.

Earlier today, the menteri besar had said that Arumugam had relinquished his post as the exco member but will continue as Bukit Selambau state assemblyperson.

Arumugam was in charge of trade, consumer affairs, welfare of the estate workers and Indian community affairs.

He was an independent candidate who joined the PKR after the general election.

Meanwhile, there are allegations that he was the EXCO involved in a bigamy or adultery case as reported by Malaysian Insider. Buletin TV3 also reported on the public sending complaint to Kedah Sultan over their immoral act of their assemblyman, but no name was mentioned. The report said that the ADUN even bought his other woman to the Sultan’s function.

Azizan said that an aide of Arumugam told him that the Bukit Selambau assemblyman was relinquishing the post due to personal reasons and not because of Pas leadership.

Arumugam, 55, a retired Royal Malaysia Airforce mechanic, contested in the 12th general election last year as an Independent candidate.

He won the Bukit Selambau seat, defeating Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate S. Krishnan with a majority of 7,695 votes. He emerged at the last minute as the Independent candidate  when the Returning Officer rejected the nomination papers of Saiful Izham Ramli of PKR on technical grounds.

Arumugam later joined the PKR and was appointed a state executive council member.

Recently, a group of people claiming to be representing 500 residents of Taman Ria in Sungai Petani submitted a petition to the Sultan of Kedah claiming that a state executive councillor was involved in an affair with a woman.

Arumugam earlier claimed he was under pressure to join BN with threats of kidnapping and bribery. However, my feeling is that no one quits due to pressure or threats. Admittedly, he was an independent candidate who joined PKR after winning, but I suspect the allegations against him may be the real reason. Its a crime to have two wives (if the allegations are true).

Whatever it is, we have a by-election in Kedah.

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Kedah Adun Arumugam to resign?

February 9th, 2009
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This just came in via Malaysiakini:

PKR sources have informed Malaysiakini that the party’s elected representative in Kedah V Arumugam has submitted his resignation, necessitating a by-election soon for the Bukit Selambau state seat.

It is leant that Arumugam had decided to throw in the towel following tremendous pressure on him and his family to defect to Barisan Nasional.

Arumugam,54, could not be contacted for confirmation but high level party sources said that the party would make the news official tomorrow.

It is learnt that Arumugam has submitted his resignation letter to the Kedah assembly speaker today and had gone overseas.

Arumugam’s resignation, if it is confirmed tomorrow by state officials, brings an end to weeks of speculation that he would be tempted or forced to join the BN.

Police report lodged

Early this month, Arumugan had lodged a police report claiming, among others, that there was an attempt to kidnap him.

He also claimed that he and his officers have received numerous threats.

“All of this is being done in order to force me to leave PKR and move to Barisan Nasional,” he had said after lodging the police report.

He had said that apart from the threats, he was also approached with lucrative offers in order to coax him into leaving PKR.

Last week, talks of Arumugam leaving PKR heated up again, especially when he could not be contacted by anyone. His party colleagues then revealed that he was on leave.

Kedah – which was an Umno stronghold fell – into the hands of Pakatan Rakyat following the March 8 general election.

Arumugam was an independent candidate who joined the PKR after the general election. He was also a state executive councillor under the PAS-led Kedah government.

This serves to reinforce the notion that 3 defectors in Pakatan may have been bought over. More problem for BN. Again, another by-election with BN losing will reflect the lack of support in the bigger picture – takeover of Perak.

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PR reps tell tales of money politics

February 6th, 2009
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“money politics” is a term introduced to well by Malaysia (well, to be precise, by a political party in Malaysia). While the rest of the world uses more the common term – bribery, we invented a new term. Malaysia Boleh, of course!

Interestingly, “money politics” is not limited to intra-party on-goings only, if we are to believe the words of some Pakatan Rakyat leaders. RM60 million!!!! Seriously??? Like that means politician can be a career worth considering for our younger generation! Let’s face it, not everyone will be Tiger Woods or Ronaldo or Bill Gates. But everyone can try to be a politician. it does not really need any qualifications nor technical skills.

The first report sees Perak Pakatan reps saying:

IPOH: Five Pakatan Rakyat assemblymen have claimed they have been approached by agents to cross over to Barisan Nasional.

They are State Assembly Speaker and Tronoh assemblyman V. Siva­kumar, Sungkai assemblyman A. Sivanesan, Hutan Melintang assemblyman S. Kesavan, Malim Nawar assemblyman Keshvinder Singh and Buntong assemblyman A. Subra­maniam [all Indians. Interesting!].

Except for Sivakumar, the others claimed they were contacted in recent days.

Sivakumar said he was offered RM60mil to cross over last year before his appointment as Speaker.

Sivanesan said he was initially approached before he was sworn in last year, and on Tuesday he received a call to persuade him to cross over.

He said the caller said: “Tunggu apa lagi? Kerajaan dah lari sana. Kalau abang setuju, saya datang sekarang juga bawa abang duduk seminggu.” (What are you waiting for? The Government has changed. If you agree to cross over, I will take you into hiding for a week.)

Sivanesan said he was first approached last year by a man called Amir, and a meeting was arranged after he informed the party leadership.

He said he met Amir, accompanied by two others, at a fast-food outlet in Bidor, and was offered RM5mil and a seat on the state executive council.

He claimed Amir contacted him after he was sworn in and doubled the offer.

Keshwinder Singh said he was offered RM10mil plus the position of the Perak MIC chief and a place on the state executive council about a week ago. [Perak MIC post??? G. Rajoo must be seething with anger!]

“A man who said he was acting on behalf of an Umno leader came to my office in Kampar with the proposition,” he said.

All five assemblymen were present at the High Court as a show of support for Sivakumar who has filed a suit seeking to uphold the resignation of Changkat Jering, Behrang and Jelapang state assemblymen, thus getting the seats to be declared vacant.

The same paper reported another case by Kedah PR reps:

Two PKR assemblymen in Kedah claimed they were offered money to leave Pakatan Rakyat and become Independents after the March general election.

Lim Soo Nee (Kulim) and Tan Show Kang (Sidam) claimed that the offer of several millions of ringgit was made many times by the same man.

“The man last offered me money about a month ago. He offered a large sum of money to leave Pakatan Rakyat and become an Independent assemblyman. I do not know the man,” Tan told reporters at the official declaration ceremony of Pokok Sena as the state’s 12th district yesterday.

Lim said he was also offered a large sum of money but the man stopped making the offer after several months.

Lim and Tan said they reported the matter to the PKR headquarters.

These allegations are being bandied now probably to drive the point that the defectors in Perak were offered similar propositions as well.

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