The revelation by independent candidate, Aminah Abdullah, that she received inducements to withdraw from the Penanti by-election has certainly heated up the campaigning for the state seat.

According to a PKR party source, the two representatives whom Aminah referred to were party's supreme council member Cheah Kah Peng and Penang state exco Law Choo Kiang's aide, Peter Lim.

aminah abdullah penanti by election dvd proof of pakatan corruption 250509 02 Party insider claims that in Aminah’s recording, the man who was most actively negotiating with Aminah and her husband was Lim, while another man who could be heard laughing in the background sounds like Cheah.

It is known that the duo and Aminah are good friends and apparently their effort to persuade the former Penang PKR woman chief to withdraw from the by-election has now unwittingly triggered a controversy.

When contacted by Malaysiakini last night, Cheah refused to comment as he has not yet fully heard the three-hour-long audio recording.

At yesterday's press conference, Aminah revealed that all her family members helped to record and take photos during the "negotiation".

aminah abdullah pkr leaders alleged bribe photos 260509 02 Her daughters and husband were in and out of the living room taking turns to do the audio recording and snapping photographs ( right ). Both Lim and Cheah were apparently unaware that their conversation were being taped.

Party sources reviewed that Aminah was a loyalist of former PKR Youth chief Ezam Mohd Nor. In 2007, as the party internal struggle intensified, she followed Ezam in leaving the party.

Cheah has conceded that he and Lim visited Aminah’s house in Jelutong on May 13. But he denied that the purpose of the visit was to persuade Aminah to pull out from the Penanti by-election.

"Aminah wished to come back to the party, so she invited us to have lunch and discuss the matter at her house," he said.

Three-and-a-half hour voice recording

Aminah yesterday revealed that two state-level PKR members had offered her a top state government post and RM80,000 if she pulled out from contesting the by-election.

Without naming the duo, Aminah told reporters that the offers were that she would be made president of the Penang Island Municipal Council if she pulls out. Or, if she wins, she would be given the deputy chief minister's post.

She said the duo were Chinese and in making the offers, they were acting with the blessings of PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.

aminah abdullah penanti by election cd dvd vcd proof pc 250509 01 Aminah also provided a three-and-a-half hour voice recording of the meeting to the press and pointed out there were four parts which proved the duo did made offers.

Although the voice recording was mixed with background sound of chicken, cars passing-by and prayers from mosque, it is possible to hear the discussion between Aminah, her husband Mohd Rofi Osman and the two men.

The four initially talked about trivial matters and later moved to the issue of Penanti by-election and PKR party’s internal problem. The duo began by persuading Aminah to withdraw and return to the party to fight their common political enemy, BN.

When both sides discussed the plan for Aminah to withdraw after nomination day, one of the men mentioned that PKR candidate Mansor Othman - who have lost in three previous outings - did not have "luck" and he was worried that the latter would lose in the by-election.

Discussion contradicts Aminah's statement

"Dr (Mansor) might lose his candidacy, like for example making a mistake in filling his form... Then, Kak Nah might officially become DCM (deputy chief minister)," he said.

penanti state seat penang 200409 They also look into the possibilities of letting Aminah return to the party, following the model of former Bukit Selambau assemblyperson V Arumugam, who joined the party after winning as an independent.

The man also said if Aminah withdrew and join the party, then the post of Seberang Perai Municipal Council chief would most probably would go to her.

"We will fight for Kak Nah for the post," he said.

However, this discussion contradicts with Aminah's statement yesterday.

The latter claimed that she was offered the post of the Penang Island Municipal Council chief.

Aminah and Mohd Rofi also said they had make some preparation for the by-election, hence one of the men was recorded as saying that Mansor, or the party, could reimburse the expenditure.

Both sides then discussed the work that had to be done after Aminah withdraws, including the drafting a memorandum to support Mansor.

Later in the conversation, the man in the audio recording asked Aminah again how much her election budget was, and Mohd Rofi replied "RM80,000".

Aminah's husband also said: "This is just enough, 'ngam ngam' only".

The man in the tape then said: "We will ask the party to compensate."

The duo also said they would discuss with Mansor and Anwar on this matter.