Zulkifli Redzuan case - Perak State Government and Ipoh City Council sending out contradictory message about commitment to the Prime Minister’s campaign for government incorruptibility and integrity

Media Statement
by Lim Kit Siang  

(Ipoh, Saturday): The Perak State Government and Ipoh City Council are sending out a contradictory message about their commitment to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s campaign for government incorruptibility and  integrity in their handling of the  Zulkifli Redzuan case -  the Ipoh City Council landscaping department head who is allowed to continue working while being charged with corruption.

When Tan Sri Kasitah Gaddam, the Minister for Land and Co-operative Development,  was arrested and charged for corruption in February 2004, he resigned as Cabinet Minister as it was untenable for him to continue in his office although the charges of corruption and cheating which he faced involved  the sale of 16.8 million Sabah Land Development Board shares in Sapi Plantation Sdn Bhd about seven years earlier  in his capacity as executive chairman of SLDB.

It is even more untenable for Zulkifli to continue in his office as his three charges of corruption were directly related to his City Council duties.

Just like Kasitah, Zulkifli is “innocent until proven guilty”, but the Ipoh City Council and the Perak State Government owe a special responsibility not to send out any contradictory message creating public doubts about their commitment to the pledge of the Prime Minister to lead, at all levels of the country,  an administration of accountability, transparency, integrity and good governance.

Perak Mentri Besar, Tan Sri Tajol Rosli, should demonstrate the full commitment of his government in Perak and Ipoh to give unstinting endorsement to Abdullah’s leadership of incorruptibility and integrity.

(06/08/2005)