PAS yet to decide on S’gor MB post

KUALA LUMPUR: PAS is keeping its partners in the Pakatan Rakyat guessing again on whether it agrees to Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail replacing Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim as Selangor Mentri Besar.

Yesterday, following a second central committee meeting in eight days, the party dropped a bombshell that its assemblymen, except the two representatives who had earlier made their personal stand on the matter, would not sign any statutory declaration to support Dr Wan Azizah for the post.

“The matter was not discussed at the meeting, so that means no, (they will not sign),” PAS secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali told reporters after the meeting.

He said the party leadership agreed to let the Sultan of Selangor decide on the Mentri Besar’s post.

“We decided to leave it to the discretion and wisdom of the Sultan.” 

Mustafa declined to say whether PAS would proceed with its plan to submit two names – that of Dr Wan Azizah and PKR deputy president Azmin Ali – to the palace. 

The PKR and DAP want to present statutory declarations from all the 42 Pakatan assemblymen to Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah to convince the Ruler that all the parties were united in wanting the PKR president to replace Khalid. The Mentri Besar was axed from PKR last month.

Following his sacking, the Sultan consented to Khalid leading the state on the premise that the Mentri Besar had the majority support in the 56-member House via all the PAS assemblymen plus the 12 Barisan assemblymen.

PAS has 15 representatives in the legislative assembly but two of them – Saari Sungib (Hulu Kelang) and Hasnul Baharuddin (Morib) – broke ranks by backing Dr Wan Azizah three days before the PAS central committee met on Aug 17 to make an official stand on the issue.

Prior to this, the PAS ulama and syura councils had decided to continue backing Khalid, rejecting Dr Wan Azizah’s nomination for the Mentri Besar’s post.

However, in a U-turn that stunned many party members, the central committee decided to back Dr Wan Azizah and proposed a second name, Azmin, as an alternative nominee.

Asked if the central committee had decided on the action against Saari and Hasnul, Mustafa said the party had not. “We will wait first for a report from Selangor PAS.”

In another development, he refuted an allegation by a delegate at the PKR national congress on Saturday that there was a rift between PAS and the PKR in Terengganu.

“As far as I know, both parties share a pleasant relationship,” said Mustafa. 

“If there was a problem, they should have reported it to me, so I can check.”

Terengganu PKR delegate Azlan Man had claimed that PAS leaders in the state were “bullying” them.