Aminah is so poor that she can fork out RM80K for election but cannot buy a video cam

GEORGE TOWN : Independent candidate for the Penanti state by-election Aminah Abdullah was interviewed by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for more than five hours yesterday over her claims that she was offered cash and posts if she dropped out of the contest.

Aminah(right), hands over an envelope containing an audio CD and photographs of a meeting between her and two PKR members, to the Penang Election CommissionÕs chief administrative assistant in George Town, Noormah Shaari.

Aminah, 56, said she met with state MACC director Latifah Md Yatim and other officers of the commission from about 4.30pm to 10pm at the commission office in Butterworth.

"They told me to come in for a while but kept me there for a long time," she said.

Aminah said this to reporters after handing over a voice recording and photographs of her meeting with two men, who she said were PKR members, to the Election Commission office here today. She was accompanied by her husband Mohd Rofi Osman.

She handed over the items to the EC’s chief administrative assistant in Penang, Noormah Shaari.

Aminah, the PKR Penang Wanita chief from 1999 to 2007, when she quit the party, had alleged on Monday that the men offered her the Penang Municipal Council president's post if she withdrew from the by-election, or the post of deputy chief minister (I) if she contested and won.

She also said the men offered her RM80,000.

Aminah said there were two subsequent meetings with PKR members that she had also secretly recorded but had yet to burn into CDs.

Queried by reporters, Aminah admitted that she did not expect there was bribery involved.

In the recording, a person is heard asking her how much she was spending for the by-election and she said RM80,000. The person then suggested that she could be compensated if she pulled out.

She said she did not think her secret recordings amounted to breach of trust.

"Last time, at PKR meetings, they also secretly recorded the discussions," she said.

"I didn’t want to expose this but the Penang PKR chairman (Datuk Zahrain Mohamed Hashim) challenged me to show proof."

Asked how PKR supreme council member Cheah Kah Peng, whom she had called a friend, would feel about being recorded secretly, she said: "Kasihan dia (pity him) … when all this is over, I will call him to clarify."

Asked why they did not take a video of the meeting, Mohd Rofi said: "We don’t have video. This independent (Aminah) is poor."

Asked how she was able to fork out RM80,000 if she was poor, Aminah said she used her savings and former PKR members also supported her. (TheSun)

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Speaker claims defamation over notice of Perak Assembly sitting

IPOH : Perak State Assembly Speaker V. Sivakumar today claimed he was subjected to defamation over the instruction to issue a notice for the state assembly to sit on May 7

He said he was shocked over a report in The New Straits Times (NST) newspaper yesterday that he had been informed of the assembly sitting before the notice was issued. Sivakumar had said earlier that the notice was issued without his knowledge and approval.

"I will not allow this. It is another attempt to undermine my image and credibility.

"If the allegation is true, why are the people who issued the statement not bold enough to identify themselves in the daily? Why just say it (the source of the news) is someone associated with the office of the menteri besar?" he said in a statement here.

Sivakumar reiterated that he was not informed before the notice on the assembly sitting was issued by assembly secretary Abdullah Antong Sabri last Friday.

Abdullah Antong Sabri

He said his meeting with Abdullah, as reported in the newspaper, was held after the issuing of the notice by Abdullah without any consultation earlier with him (Sivakumar).

"I was told that a notice had been sent to my office at about 10am. A similar notice had been sent by the assembly secretary to all state assemblymen. I saw the notice at about 1pm.

"I only met Abdullah at about 3pm, after he had returned from Friday prayers," he said.

The NST reported yesterday that "Sivakumar had full knowledge of the issuance of the notice for the May 7 sitting of the assembly" before the notice was issued to all the 59 state assemblymen.

- BERNAMA
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Button wins Malaysian GP

SEPANG,-- Torrential rains, scattered thunderstorms and a water-logged circuit helped Briton Jenson Button of Brawn GP, clinch the Petronas Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit after the race was stopped in the 31st of the 56-lap race.

It was the second consecutive victory for the Briton who had also claimed the season opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne last week.

Button said: "What a crazy race, it really was. During the heavy down pour, I couldn't see the circuit well. My start was really bad, I had a lot of over steer and maybe I didn't get enough heat in the rear tyres."

BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld took second place while Panasonic Toyota Racing Team driver Timo Glock finished third when the decision was announced about an hour after the initial race was red-flagged.

Jarno Trulli of Panasonic Toyota Racing Team finished fourth ahead of Rubens Barrichello from Brawn GP F1 Team.

The race that started off at 5pm under perfect weather conditions, suddenly transformed into a nightmare for drivers as a sporadic drizzle at certain sections of the track set the tone for what was to come.

And just as feared, when the race was picking up pace, the sky opened up and drenched the circuit while heavy rain and thunderstorm limited visibility of the drivers, forcing the safety car to be deployed and at 6.02pm the red flag was out to stop the race.

Defending world champion Lewis Hamilton of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes could only manage seventh place while his team-mate Heikki Kovalainen crashed out early in the race.

Button, though declared winner, he received only half of the 10 points normally awarded to the winner. He leads the drivers standings with 15 points while his Brazilian team-mate Barrichello is second with 10 points while Trulli is third with 8.5 points.

Hamilton is in 10th spot with just a single point while Ferrari drivers Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen have yet to collect any points.

Meanwhile, Heidfeld said: "We decided to go on full rain tyres but the tyres wore down quickly because the heavy rain didn't come, however, the team kept telling me to stay out as heavy rain expected but the tyres felt almost like slicks.

"The decision to stop the race was right because it was absolutely impossible to drive in such conditions."

-- BERNAMA
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