PKR will not get any apology from Gerakan Youth chief Tan Keng Liang over his “I would never join a party led by a sexual offender” remark .

The remark riled up PKR which sees it as a direct hit at the party’s de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, who has been serving a five-year jail term since Feb 10, after being convicted for sodomy.

“Why should I apologise for stating facts and my preference?” asked Tan.

He made the remark when referring to former Umno deputy minister and former Global Movement for Moderates CEO Saifuddin Abdullah’s entry into PKR last Thursday.

“Is he trying to force me to join PKR?” Tan asked, responding to a Malaysiakini report on Oct 17, headlined “Keng Liang’s ‘sexual offender’ remark riles up PKR man”.

In the report, PKR Youth deputy chief Dr Afif Bahardin asked if Gerakan Youth had benefited from the questionable RM2.6 billion donation allegedly deposited into Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s private bank accounts before the 2013 general election.

Afif urged Tan to expand his reading habits, and read the lastest book, ‘The Prosecution of Anwar Ibrahim - the Final Play’ by Queen’s Counsel Mark Trowell, in which the writer touches on trumped-up charges and conspiracies surrounding Anwar’s sodomy trial.

'I stand by my Facebook posting'

Afif told Tan to retract his offensive remark and to apologise for making it.

Tan said he stood by his recent Facebook posting that states: “It’s a fact that Anwar had been convicted of sodomising another male. That’s a sexual crime. I can’t change that fact.

“Like I have said, I will not join a party with such a leader. That’s my principle. You can choose otherwise if you want. Democracy!”

On the suggestion by Afif ( photo ) that Tan reads Trowell’s book on Anwar, Tan said, “I would rather read the judgment and reasoning by theFederal Court, which are based on evidence (in Anwar’s case).

“Reading Mark Trowell’s book is just for leisure, nothing conclusive,” said Tan, a lawyer based in Kedah.

To a question on how much Gerakan Youth has benefited from the RM2.6 billion donation, supposedly from an anonymous Arab donor, Tan replied, “For the record, I did not receive any part of the RM2.6 billion donation as alleged by PKR.

“Otherwise, I would be able to buy a house as big as this,” he said, repeating the remark on his Facebook page that is accompanied by a snapsot of Anwar’s house in Segambut.

When contacted, Afif declined to comment further on the matter.