Penang govt will not sack Iszuree until discussion is held

The Penang government will not execute the decision to sack Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) member Iszuree Ibrahim until a discussion is held with other quarters, including MPPP councillors.

State Agriculture, Agro-based Industry, Rural Development and Health Committee chairman, Dr Afif Bahardin said a state executive council (exco) meeting on Wednesday retained Iszuree as MPPP council member.

But, Iszuree who is also Penang PAS treasurer, was dropped from all MPPP sub-committees and his allocation was frozen and channelled to another councillor from PAS, Mohd Nasir Yahya, and managed by the Penang PAS Liaison Committee, he said.

"The state government appreciates the effort of the state PAS Liaison Committee headed by state PAS deputy commissioner Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa who met Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng on Oct 2, accompanied by several state PAS leaders.

"Unfortunately, Iszuree failed to attend the meeting. The views and clarifications of the state government and Penang PAS were shared during the meeting. This proves there is no issue with regards to relations within Penang Pakatan Rakyat as bandied about by the pro-Barisan Nasional (BN) media," he told a news conference, here, on Wednesday.

Afif said a state exco meeting on Oct 1 had decided to sack Iszuree from his post for hitting out at the state government and flouting professional etiquete.

He said Iszuree's statement at the 60th PAS Muktamar (General Assembly) in Batu Pahat, Johor on Sept 28 on the issue of housing was slanderous and conflicted with the policy of the state government and MPPP.

Meanwhile, Bernama's effort to get Iszuree's comment on the state government's decision failed as he did not pick up calls.

Iszuree was sacked from all permanent committees in MPPP following his speech at the muktamar, criticising the state government over housing issues and saying the current state government's administration was akin to BN's by continuing the pro-developer policy when managing squatter problems.

He was said to have received a letter of termination from MPPP dated Sept 26, but the letter did not state the reason for the sacking although he had been a council member since 2010.

The letter said the state exco meeting on Sept 25 had decided to remove Iszuree from all permanent committees in MPPP and to freeze all allocations to him.