How can a person who is found unfit to hold a lower post qualified to hold a more prominent one?

The question was posed by opposition DAP Selangor leader Teng Chang Khim to the embattled Umno politician Zakaria Md Deros who was recently embroiled in a series of controversies over his illegal mansion and appointment of family members into a same local council.

Zakaria announced he has relinquished his Klang municipal councillor post yesterday, hours after the Umno supreme council which met yesterday advised him to do so amidst calls from various quarters.

Nevertheless, this should not signal the end of the saga, said Teng in a statement today.

Teng, the Sungai Pinang state assemblyperson and a lawyer by training, said the Umno supreme council should have ordered Zakaria to resign as the Port Klang state assemblyperson as well.

"It is irreconcilable when one is found to be unfit for a lower public office can at the same time be fit for a higher public office," argued the DAP politician.

Teng said despite Zakaria's departure from Klang Municipal Council, the latter however still wields influence in the area as he holds the posts of Umno Klang division chief, state assemblyperson and a land committee chief in the Selangor Economic Development Corporation (PKNS).

"In Klang itself, he still has his alter ego, his son and daughter-in-law to represent him in the Klang Municipal Council," argued Teng.

Revive local elections

He claimed Zakaria has a "habitual abuse of power and position" as evident in the recent controversies. In relation to that, Teng asked the authorities to take action against unsettled issues in the controversies should Zakaria found to have breached the law, they include:

  • demolition of the illegal structure of 'satay house'.

  • demolition of the unlawful 'Istana Zakaria'.

  • full investigation into all land dealings of the land committee of the PKNS chaired by Zakaria.

  • full investigation against all complaints against him by the public

  • full investigation by the Anti-Corruption Agency and the Inland Revenue Board to ascertain Zakaria's incomes and sources of income.

    • Meanwhile, Teng opined that the Zakaria episode is not an isolated case but a phenomenon in the country that needs immediate attention and remedial action through the re-introduction of local government elections which has been suspended for 40 years.

    Zakaria, 60, a councillor for the Klang Municipal Council since 1983, became embroiled in a controversy when he went ahead and built a 17-room palatial mansion in a low-cost housing area in Kampung Idaman in Pandaraman in Klang without getting the approval.

    The re-appointment of his son Zainuri and appointment of his daughter-in-law Roselinda Abdul Jamil, as councillors in the same municipal council also caused public outrage until receiving attention from the Selangor Sultan.

    At a tearful press conference on Tuesday, Zakaria kept mum on his position as councillor but gave his side of the story of why he need to build the mansion while admitting his mistakes.