REPLY TO DR CHANDRA'S ALLEGATIONS

I can understand Dr. Chandra having to respond in the way he did. He has no choice otherwise he will have to resign from the party. He sounds like a desperate man.

1. I did not send my letter of the 13th January to Malaysiakini and was surprised when they rang to get confirmation whether I wrote such a letter. It was only after they faxed to me their copy that I confirmed I had written it in January and had sent a copy to Datin Seri Wan Azizah together with my resignation letter of the 18th May 2000. In that letter I had already dealt with the issues and allegations made against me by Dr Chandra and his supporters particularly on "toppling the President". This issue originally came up when Datuk Seri Anwar applied to be a member of Keadilan. Initially he had clearly indicated he wanted to remain neutral as he was the acknowledged leader of the BA coalition. As a result of questions from the grassroots as to why he was not a member of Keadilan as they had joined because of him, he finally agreed, after much persuasion, to be a member of Keadilan. There was discussion at the MPT Keadilan on the merits of whether he should be offered the post of President or Advisor. I expressed the opinion that if he was made a member of Keadilan he should be offered the post of President otherwise he should stay out of the party and remain neutral. Unfortunately those who took this stand has been branded as being the group who wants to "topple" Wan Azizah and has been used ever since by Dr. Chandra and his cronies to undermine me and to give wrong feedback to Datin Seri Wan Azizah . It culminated in my final resignation on 18th May 2000. Now for the first time Dr. Chandra has come out in the open on this accusation. At least it confirms the fact that all along he has been using his cronies to attack me on this issue whilst he continued to play the "sweet and innocent" role. His press statement does not address the issues I have raised and it just confirms the truth. His wild and baseless statement and calling me a liar does not change the truth of the issues raised.

2. There have been several instances when Dr.Chandra lost his temper and I have witnesses who are prepared to testify to this fact. It may be convenient for some people to "forget" the incident or deny it. The proposal by Dr. Chandra to "discipline me" was clearly stated in the minutes of the meeting made in my absence to which I was not called and of which I still have the records. I have attended much more than three meetings, contrary to what Dr. Chandra is alleging and have the records to confirm this too. Many meetings were deliberately called when I was away, or attending my court case in Butterworth. They were called at very short notice (in these most instances less than 24 hours were given and every time when I was out of town or in Butterworth).

3. I have copies of all the relevant documents to substantiate my allegations and witnesses to all the incidents and issues raised in my letter of the 13th January. Dr. Chandra in his long winded 11- page letter has twisted the truth and accused me of the things he is the one guilty of. As I have no wish to turn the media into, a courthouse to wash dirty linen in public, I will not bother with the details and will not dwell on it any longer.

I can appreciate Keadilan's leaders being reluctant to respond to this issue. That should be so. To speak out even in defence, would be detrimental to the party. The media favouring the Barisan Nasional obviously will be exploiting this issue to their advantage. Unfortunately Dr. Chandra is deliberately playing into their hands. I have no intention of wasting any more time on Dr. Chandra and on this matter.

As far as party Keadilan is concerned, no one is indispensable. The party was started on the strength of the people and will carry on with its strength from the grassroots without Dr. Chandra or me. The strength of Keadilan lies not with its leaders but with its supporters and I believe it is these people who will carry on the fight for justice until we attain victory.    

HAJJAH MARINA YUSOFF
10th July 2000