The association of Felda settlers' children, Anak, will mobilise its members to protest what it believes is "an attempt to remove" a senior member from the federal land development agency’s administration.

NONE The attempt, the PAS-linked NGO claims, is being underhandedly done in the guise of a letter asking director-general Zulkifli Wahab to take an extended leave of absence to “further his education”.

"The letter does not say terminate. But they sent a letter asking him to further his studies. What for? Zulkifli is 54 years old.

"Those in the know would know (the real meaning)," said Anak chairperson Mazlan Aliman ( above ), likening the letter to a constructive dismissal.

The matter was first raised by PAS party organ Harakah , which reported that Zulkifli was ordered to take a nine-month leave of absence after Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak decided to give him a chance to further his studies.

The report speculates that the letter was issued after Najib received a letter from Felda chairperson Isa Samad.

The leave is effective from Nov 25 to August next year.

isa samad 061009 smile Mazlan claimed the matter arose over a disagreement between Zulkifli and Isa on the listing of Felda Global Ventures Holdings in Bursa Malaysia.

Zulkifli is not totally supportive of Isa's ( left ) decision to do so.

Contacted by Malaysiakini today, Mazlan said Anak members would gather in front of Felda headquarters in Kuala Lumpur at 2.30pm tomorrow to protest the move to "remove" Zulkifli.

He would also hand in a memorandum on the matter.

"Even if in several issues Anak had criticised the Felda leadership, in terms of work Zulkifli has been professional.

"Zulkifli himself started from the bottom and has been loyal in his duties," Mazlan added.

Malaysiakini ’s attempts to contact Isa for verification were unsuccessful.