Pakatan needs a platform to discuss sustainable development for Penang - PAS

Penang PAS deputy commissioner, Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa said the matter was agreed by consensus during the party's meeting on Oct 3, a day after its leaders met with Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

"We acknowledged that some of the development issues in Penang, especially in the island area, have been and are being addressed by the state government, but room for improvement remains, and PAS is prepared to cooperate to improve its effectiveness.

"The meeting also acknowledged that the Council has not met since 2009, hence issues concerning the state administration, parties and the people could not be discussed in comprehensive manner in order to have a sustainable development in Penang," he told a press conference here Monday.

He said some issues, including the suspension of Penang PAS treasurer, Iszuree Ibrahim, for example, occurred because a meeting to discuss those issues, was not held due to time and technical reasons.

Mujahid said due to the lack of a discussion platform, Iszuree raised those issues, including a housing issue in which he also likened the DAP-led state government's administration to Barisan Nasional's in implementing the pro-developer policy when addressing squatter problems, at the 60th Muktamar of PAS in Batu Pahat, Johor on Sept 28.

As a result, he said Iszuree was suspended as the Penang Island Municipal Council member, thus strained the ties between PAS and DAP in the state.

He said Penang PAS admitted that certain part of Iszuree's speech had caused a misunderstanding due to his choice of certain style of language and sentence structures to explain his points.

"In this case, we feel that it is apt for us to take full responsibility for Iszuree's statement and we are prepared to make things right again.

"Therefore, on Iszuree's behalf, the Penang PAS would like to express our regret for the misunderstanding caused by the statement," he added.