SHAH ALAM: Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim admits he recommended Selayang Municipal Council President Datuk Zainal Abidin A'ala be moved.

"I merely recommended the move but did not ask for him (Dr Zainal Abidin) to be changed to a different department because if a mayor has only a year to serve, I am not going to wait until the last minute to find a successor.

"Besides, I recommended the move way before the controversial 29-storey condominium near Batu Caves came up," he told a press conference on Monday.

Khalid was responding to a statement by the Chief Secretary to the Government Datuk Seri Dr Ali Hamsa who said that the termination of Zainal Abidin was made after a request from the Selangor government.

"This shows I have the power to appoint or dismiss a mayor.

"I am very happy with this. Now they know the power of appointing a mayor is in the hands of the MB," he quipped.

Dr Ali had said that the Selangor state secretary, in a letter dated Oct 15, had stated that Khalid wanted Zainal Abidin replaced by another officer.

The transfer letter for Zainal Abidin was issued on Nov 9 and said that he was being transferred to the National Institute of Public Administration (Intan) effective Nov 15.

Zainal Abidin's sudden transfer sparked a storm of speculation with many linking it to the controversy over the proposed 29-storey condominium project next to Batu Caves, Selangor.

Related Stories:
PSD: Civil servants can be transferred anytime
S'gor govt asked for Selayang council president's transfer, says Chief Secretary
Another top civil servant transferred
Selayang councillors object to transfer of president
Stop speculation on condo plans until probe is over, urges Khalid
Kamalanathan wants apology from Ronnie Liu for alleging link to Batu Caves condo project approval
Selayang council ordered to issue temporary stop work order against condo near Batu Caves

• Malaysia tycoon Vincent Tan plans IPO of football club Cardiff City
• Google, like Facebook, in talks to buy Waze for about US$1bil
• Crown selling entire 10% in rival Echo, partly owned by Genting(Update)
• First edition of 'Great Gatsby' to be sold at auction, can fetch US$150,000
• Malaysia leads the way in Basel III debt
• Markets face rough summer ride as Fed pullback feared
• Wall Street sags, HP hits 52-week high
• Commodities trader sues BP, Shell others for alleged oil price fixing
• Billionaire Icahn seeks up to US$7bil for Dell bid
• Google faces new federal antitrust probe
• Goldman Sachs unveils checks on conflicts in bid to fix tarnished image
• Air Asia's Tony Fernandes to ‘fire up’ investors
• Maybank bullish on growth, to expand regionally under new leadership
• Khazanah appoints Nor Mohamed deputy chairman
• Lafarge Malayan Cement to finalise next expansion plans by August

• British police arrest two men on diverted Pakistan flight (Updated)
• Britain scrambles fighter jets to escort Pakistani passenger plane
• 5,000 cave paintings discovered in Mexico
• Cars, schools ablaze in fifth night of Stockholm riots
• London's Heathrow airport closed after emergency landing
• Far East quake felt in Moscow, tsunami warning lifted
• Police make new arrests in London soldier killing
• Britain's press demands jailing of Islamist preacher
• Tsunami warning in Russia's Far East after 8.2 quake
• US bridge collapse sends cars, people into river
• Strong quake strikes off Tonga
• Jury fails to decide on US murderer death sentence
• One killed in Brazil giant fuel depot blaze

• British Open: Nicol David deals with disruptions for semi spot
• Kingston leads, McIlroy in Wentworth woe
• LPGA plans 12-hole rounds in water-logged Bahamas
• Ryan Palmer sizzles with 62 to seize lead at Colonial
• Kelly overcomes scare to clinch title in KLGCC
• Time to make amends Garcia wants to meet Woods to defuse racist row
• American Johnson back to defend Colonial crown
• Rain dampens debut of LPGA Bahamas event
• Tianlang adds another US event to schedule
• Clock ticking for next golden generation
• Nadal wants to create history at Roland Garros
• Serena out to tame French Open demons
• Zheng Jie stuns Wozniacki in Brussels
• British Open: Ramy Ashour racks up 38th successive win
• Nicol David sails into quarter-finals of British Open in 35 minutes

• Please wait.

• KL car number plates to bear ‘W1A’
• Air Asia's Tony Fernandes to ‘fire up’ investors
• Singapore GDP growth surprises, beats economists’ forecast of contraction
• Tian, Tamrin and Haris released after remand denied (updated)
• Malaysia leads the way in Basel III debt
• Inventions a-plenty, but no real innovation
• Robber shot dead after attacking out-of-uniform cop with meat cleaver
• Thousands throng thanksgiving rally by DAP
• EC: Photograph of ‘blackout’ on polling day was a lie
• Lafarge Malayan Cement to finalise next expansion plans by August