Calls for Yeoh to resign are unfair, Teo says

Calls for Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh to resign over a government contract awarded to her husband’s company are unfair, said Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching.

“I think she (Yeoh) will cooperate with any type of investigation but the question is whether it is appropriate for her to resign. I think it is too early,” said Teo in a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

She was responding to a call by United for the Rights of Malaysians Party (Urimai) chairperson P Ramasamy for Yeoh to resign.

He called for the minister’s resignation over the contract for a Demand Responsive Transit (DRT) pilot project being awarded to Asia Mobility Technologies Sdn Bhd (Asia Mobiliti).

Yeoh’s husband, Ramachandran Muniandy, is the company’s CEO.

Teo (above), who is Yeoh’s colleague in DAP, also questioned the timing of Ramasamy’s resignation call.

She asked why the former Penang deputy chief minister II for 15 years did not make the same call when former Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng was charged in court.

“Did Ramasamy then ask Lim to resign and why did he change his stance now? Was it because he now wants to be an angel after leaving DAP?” she asked.

Yesterday, the MACC explained it had conducted an interim investigation regarding the issue but did not find any wrongdoing.

MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki said he decided there was no case to pursue.

Asia Mobiliti was one of two companies selected for the DRT pilot project.

DRT is a state government initiative to improve public transport and mobility services in Selangor.

Empowering women leaders

Meanwhile, in the same press conference, Teo launched the HerLead programme by the DAP Women’s wing - a political education programme designed to empower and equip the party’s women members with skills and knowledge to become political leaders.

She said the programme combines educational modules with mentoring to ensure participants gain theoretical knowledge and appropriate practical guidance within a year.

“Political parties give the excuse of not having enough (female) candidates. This HerLead programme is designed to overcome this problem.

“We want to invite those who are interested in politics to join this programme so we can see their (potential and abilities) and we can prepare various programmes to (empower) them.

“We intend to help the party identify our talent pool,” she added.

The first programme of HerLead will take place on June 22 and 23 in Kuala Lumpur and DAP women members who are interested can register here.

Teo added that DAP has the highest percentage of female MPs with 25 percent, which is 10 female representatives out of 40 representatives from the party.

- Bernama

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