SHAH ALAM, July 20 (Bernama) -- Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said he would meet Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) leaders to discuss the party's representatives in the Selangor local councils.
PSM secretary-general S. Arutchelvan was reported to have said that Petaling Jaya councillor V. Panneerselvam was the only one dropped from among its three representatives in the Selangor local councils recently.
The other two were reappointed to the Kajang and Shah Alam local councils respectively.
Khalid has yet to fix a date for the meeting but said he would meet them soon and listen to the party's grievances.
Speaking at a press conference after the swearing-in and handing-over of letters of appointment to Selangor local councillors here Tuesday, he said he received only two names of PSM councillors instead of the usual three in the new list of local councillors.
Asked who recommended only two names, he said: "The selection of the reps were made by the respective Pakatan Rakyat party committees. So, that recommendation is the one that I adhered to."
Asked whether this would affect relations between PSM and Pakatan Rakyat, he said: "I hope not."
PSM has not joined PR but its chairman Dr Mohd Nasir Hashim and central committee member Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj, contested on PKR tickets in the 2008 general election.
Nasir won the Kota Damansara state seat in Selangor while Dr Jeyakumar won the Sungai Siput parliamentary seat in Perak from MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu.
Asked whether the non-governmental organisation (NGO) representatives still constituted 25 per cent of the 288 local councillors, Khalid said yes.
He understood that there were rumblings but said that while these people were party members, they were also part of NGOs, and PKR allowed its members to hold positions in both politics and NGOs.
"For example, Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud, president of the Malaysian Trades Union Congress, is also a PKR supreme council member," he added.