quit PKR because I felt betrayed: Aminah

BUKIT MERTAJAM: Former PKR Wanita chief Aminah Abdullah says she quit the party because she felt betrayed after five male PKR leaders ridiculed her at a public function more than two years ago.

One of the five, she said, was state PKR chairman Datuk Zahrain Mohamed Hashim.

Aminah claimed she had recorded the incident, but was not sure whether to release it or not.

“I do not think it is necessary (to reveal it for now).

“If he (Zahrain) throws me a very strong challenge, I will reveal it,” she told reporters at her operations centre in Simpang Tiga, Kubang Ulu here Thursday.

Aminah also claimed she had another “major surprise to announce” when the time was right, adding that it could probably be after the Penanti by-election on May 31.

She said Zahrain had lambasted her and made false allegations on her performance as the then state PKR Wanita chief, in front of the several Wanita division leaders and supreme council members.

She said the incident happened during tea break at a seminar that she had organised on women issues in a hotel in Jawi, South Seberang Prai.

Aminah, who is vying for the Penanti state seat, said she felt terribly humiliated.

“I did not expect them to chide me that way, but I thank God for giving me the wisdom to record the conversation for my own protection.”

She said she recorded conversations, including the recent one with the two PKR leaders Cheah Kah Peng and Peter Lim Eng Nam, because she did not want people “to cause her any trouble later on.”

Aminah, 56, had claimed on Monday that two PKR leaders allegedly offered her the Penang Municipal Council president’s post to withdraw from contesting in the by-election.

If she won, she would be given the Penang Deputy Chief Minister I post to rejoin the party as well as RM80,000 as compensation for what she had spent in preparing for the by-election.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and Election Commission are investigating her claims.

On Zahrain’s allegation that she had not done much when she was state PKR Wanita chief, Aminah asked if he had done enough as the present state chief.

She said she did not have problems with Mansor Othman, who is among the three contenders in the Penanti by-election, when he was state PKR chairman before Zahrain took over.

Aminah claimed she did not want to make personal attacks, but said “Zahrain was the one who first started it.”

“He was the one who first challenged me to show proof over the allegation that two PKR leaders offered me positions and money,” she said.

On PKR’s legal notice demanding she retract her allegations against Cheah and Lim, and to make an apology, Aminah said she received it on Thursday and added that her lawyers would handle the matter.

She sarcastically thanked PKR vice-president Azmin Ali for allegedly calling her Minah Ronggeng (folk dancer) in a ceramah (public address), adding that he had previously advised her against name-calling during elections.

Zahrain, when contacted later, said he did not wish to respond to Aminah’s allegations for now, saying it was a waste of time.

“If she wants to sue me and take me to court, let her do so. But if she says anything out of context (about me), I will, in turn, sue her,” he said.