The PKR supreme council today has decided to boot out Zulkifli Noordin, the Kulim Bandar Baru MP who has been a thorn in the flesh of the fledging party.

The decision was made after a four-hour meeting which started at 2.30pm at the party headquarters in Tropicana, Kuala Lumpur.

The meeting today was chaired by party president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail. Her husband, Anwar Ibrahim, who is also the PKR de facto leader was also present along with deputy president Dr Syed Husin Ali.

At a press conference following the supreme council meeting, party secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution said that the decision to sack Zulkifli was unanimous.

By sacking Zulkifli, the party has opted to cut off the wound which has been left festering for over a year.

NONE In so doing, PKR lost another MP following the defections of Bayan Baru MP Zahrain Hashim, Tan Tee Beng (Nibong Tebal) and Mohsin Samsuri (Bagan Serai), resulting in PKR trailing behind opposition ally DAP with 27 MPs in Parliament.

All three have declared themselves Independent, and Zulkifli ( left ), a lawyer, is also expected to join their ranks in Parliament.

The supreme council has requested Zulkifli to vacate his parliamentary seat "with immediate effect" but he is unlikely to do so.

However, Saifuddin said he is allowed to appeal the decision within 14 days.

Asked if he does not want to vacate the seat, Saifuddin stressed that PKR members subscribe to an oath to serve the people.

"We feel he has violated the oath with his actions," he said.

Questioned if Zulkifli wants to be an independent MP, the party secretary-general said it would be up to him.

"He is elected under the PKR ticket and he should resign. If he is a man of integrity which he claims he is, he would vacate his post ."

Charges against Zulkifli

According to the party constitution, Zulkifli could be given a stern warning, suspended or sacked from the party.

A disciplinary board had been tasked to probe Zulkifli over a police report he had lodged against PAS Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad and for his scathing criticism of Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and also PKR in a television interview which was aired by TV3 .

The Kulim Baru MP had however claimed that he was brought before the board for his opposition to the party's stance on the 'Allah' issue.

Zulkifli, an ordinary PKR member, had walked out of the disciplinary board in protest against the presence of non-Muslim members on the panel.

selambau pkr pc 040409 saifuddin nasution The board had subsequently recommended that Zulkifli be kicked out from the party.

“You cannot criticise or lodge a police report against a friendly partner within Pakatan. You also do not criticise the party openly. There are proper channels to do so and he did not do it,” said Saifuddin ( left ) in explaining why the party went for the harshest punishment against Zulkifli.

“Such actions would be deemed as going against the party and our Pakatan partners. Hence such action should be taken and we hope it would also educate our 500,000 party members to abide by the party discipline and rules,” he said.

Al-Qaradawi VCD

Saifuddin said that N Gobalakrishnan (Padang Serai) will be given the additional responsibility to look after Kulim Bandar Baru.

Meanwhile, Mohd Yusmadi Yusof (Balik Pulau) will look after Bayan Baru, the seat held by former PKR member Zahrain.

Anwar (Permatang Pauh) will look after Nibong Tebal while party vice-president Dr Lee Boon Chye (Gopeng) will do the same with Bagan Serai.

The party secretary-general also announced the launching of a VCD tomorrow night in Kampung Baru containing a message from world renowned religious scholar Yusuf Al-Qaradawi.

In the VCD, Al-Qaradawi denounces the on-going Anwar’s sodomy trial and issues a ‘fatwa’ against Muslims who support the false allegations against the opposition leader.

Saifuddin also announced the party will be working closely with its two Pakatan partners in preparation for the Sarawak elections.

VIDEO | 9 mins

Zul defiant in wake of his sacking