PKR national deputy chief Dr Afif Bahardin has questioned why Selangor’s appointment of directors in government-linked companies (GLC) has been dragged in to justify Penang’s offering of such posts to outsiders.

Afif said the issue of contention in Penang was that an outsider from DAP was appointed a director in the place of PKR’s quota for directors in Penang GLCs.

He was referring to the remark by DAP Bukit Bendera MP Zairil Khir Johari yesterday that Selangor had also appointed outsiders as directors in their state GLCs.

Zairil said this when justifying the appointment of DAP’s Seremban MP Anthony Loke to replace PKR's Kebun Bunga assemblyperson Cheah Kah Penang as director on the board of the Penang Hill Corporation.

“Zairil cannot compare Selangor with Penang as the issue here is the quota agreed to by the two parties concerned in the appointment of directors for GLCs,” Afif told Malaysiakini .

“The posts in Selangor - which did not go to DAP - were not under DAP’s quota while the post offered to Loke was one under PKR’s quota. This is why it has become an issue,” Afif, who is also state executive councillor, explained.

In a statement yesterday, Zairil said that despite the changes, PKR still occupied 30 GLC director seats in Penang compared to DAP’s five in Selangor, a state governed by PKR.

Cheah and Ong Chin Wen (Bukit Tengah) were sacked by Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng for reneging on their decision to vote against an Umno motion on reclamation at the state assembly sitting last November.

Lim sacked them in his capacity as chairperson of the GLCs, citing lost of confidence in the duo’s leadership, while PKR defended the duo for voting based on their conscience and public interest.

Afif said Zairil should understand that the case in Selangor was different from that of Penang.

Afif said PKR had not made a fuss about the matter and preferred to resolve the issue amicably through discussions between party leaders as mentioned by the party’s deputy chief cum Selanngor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali on Sunday.

“It is Umno and MCA leaders who questioned the matter so why pick on Selangor? Zairil should respond to them instead of bringing up a Selangor matter,” Afif said.

'Stop this kind of politics'

On Sunday, news portal Free Malaysia Today quoted Umno Pulau Betong assemblyperson Muhammad Farid Saad as saying that Lim had offended Penangites because elected representatives chosen by the people had been shelved in favour of someone from Seremban.

FMT also quoted Penang MCA’s deputy leader Tan Teik Cheng as saying that Lim was a Johorean who grew up in Malacca, while Penang DAP leader Chow Kon Yeow was from Kuala Lumpur.

“And now they favour a public representative chosen by people in Seremban to help manage our hill. This is ridiculous,” Tan was quoted as saying by the portal.

Afif said such issues should be handled differently from Selangor and according to the wishes of Penangites.

The number of GLCs in Selangor and the quota accorded to each party also varied between Penang and Selangor, he added.

“This issue of quotas has all been well-discussed by our state leaders,” Afif said.

“For a younger leader in the party, Zairil should have seen by now how badly the issue has turned out in the media,” he added.

“The best way is to go back to discussion table and we can do it in a mature manner. There is no need to hit out at others (coalition partners) [...] we should stop this kind of politics,” Afif said.