PPP’s rising star and deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department T Murugiah and six others have been expelled by the party's supreme council at a meeting this afternoon.

All seven failed to turn up at the disciplinary hearing today at 2pm in the party headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

The six others are Selayang division chief K Tanggaraju, PPP youth exco chief S Kanesan, S Saravanan, Jeyaratnam Manium and former supreme council members R Rajandran and NA Shanmuganathan.

t murugiah The six are close allies of Murugiah, who is also a supreme council member, and gained prominence after assuming the deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department post last June.

All seven were sacked for their alleged roles in a press conference chaired by Shanmuganathan which claimed that the party was on the brink of deregistration due to non-compliance with Registrar of Societies (ROS) conditions.

Three of those being sacked - Jeyaratnam, Rajandran and Kanesan - are Murugiah’s aides in the Prime Minister’s Department. Rajandran and Kanesan were earlier suspended this month for indiscipline until May 29.

The latest move by the party is expected to widen the rift between Kayveas’ and Murugiah’s supporters, ahead of the June 7 party polls.

The seven were kicked out of PPP by the 45-member party supreme council, which was also acting as the disciplinary committee.

'We gave Murugiah chance'

In a statement late this evening, the disciplinary committee said they were “very sad” over the dismissals in view of many opportunities given to Murugiah to explain his actions to the supreme council.

The committee said that on May 9, the supreme council had voted overwhelming in favour of Murugiah’s sacking, but this was deferred by party president M Kayveas.

“This is simply because the president was kind enough by giving him ample opportunity and time to patch up with the supreme council members and the state leaders.

“Instead, he chose to see the Prime Minister and thereafter organised the press conference asking his very own party which gave him the position in the government to be deregistered.

“Asking for your own party to be deregistered is tantamount to be an action by traitors in any organisation,” read the statement, which added that the seven individuals can appeal the decision in writing within 14 days.

The statement concludes that PPP leadership would not issue further public statements on the matter and urged the seven expelled members to do likewise, pending appeal.

kayveas ppp pc 120308 straight In an interview with Malaysiakini yesterday, Kayveas said that the seven had been also accused of a litany of complaints including abuse of government machinery and attempting to undermine the party.

But topping the list of violations was the press conference called by Shanmuganathan on Thursday.

Party won’t be deregistered

Shamuganathan claimed that Kayveas was chiefly responsible for the party’s predicament by failing to submit office-bearer lists and financial records since 2002 to the Registrar of Societies (ROS) as required by the law.

“What broke the camel’s back was the press conference by (Murugiah’s) private secretary (Shamuganathan), to say that ROS is going to deregister the party is inexcusable.

“He (Murugiah) is destroying the very temple he comes from. Will half a million PPP members or the public excuse him for doing so?” said Kayveas, adding that his party was in good stead with the ROS as all documents are in order.

He said even if the documents were not in order, it was “not fatal” and can be easily rectified. Moreover, he adds that no notices has been issued by the ROS informing the party of any irregularities.

Kayveas said that other complaints against the seven, includes the abuse of government machinery to hold business seminars in several states that were primarily attended by party members.

He notes that the press conference on Thursday, organised by Murugiah’s aides in the Prime Minister’s Department, was another example of abuse of power.

“Their intentions is bad. They are destroying their home,” said Kayveas.

Death threat concocted

Kayveas said that his ongoing tiff with Murugiah was the result of the latter’s “greed and power craziness of a so-called popular leader”.

Speculation is rife that Murugiah is trying to capitalise on his newfound fame to topple Kayveas in the June 7 party polls.

However, Murugiah is barred from contesting as his Silibin branch had been deregistered in 2006.

death threat note to murugiah with bullet 110509 02 On the incident where Murugiah allegedly received death threats and bullet casings at his Putrajaya office, Kayveas said that it was likely that Murugiah had concocted the story to make him look like a victim.

“When he sends bullets to himself, it is an indication of how stupid he can be. The Prime Minister’s Department is a high security area. There is a camera in every corner. All movements are recorded by closed-circuit cameras.

“If there is a thorough investigation, he is going to answer for this. He has made a false report,” he said, adding that the incident had tarnished the party president.

On Murugiah’s recent pledge of allegiance to the party president, Kayveas said it was insincere because the former had used proxies to attack him and the party.

“He is playing mind games. He is saying he supports me, yet he sends his henchmen to destroy the party,” he said.

Such incidents include Shanmuganathan’s press conference and another press conference held today in Kuala Lumpur, in which several Selangor PPP division chiefs called for Kayveas to resign.