KUALA LUMPUR: After indicating that he may be taking a momentary pause in his career, Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali has remained coy about the possibility of contesting in the upcoming Selangor state elections.
“You don’t interpret the short break as a day, a week, or a month,” he told reporters in jest when met at the Kuala Lumpur court complex yesterday.
When pressed further on whether he would contest in the upcoming Selangor state polls, he said, “when the state assembly is dissolved, the party will definitely look into the candidates”.
“The assembly has yet to be dissolved, so we have not discussed,” he said.
On whether he would offer to contest, Azmin said he would leave it to the party.
The former Gombak MP, who is also the state assemblyman for Bukit Antrabangsa, said in a tweet recently that he would be taking a break.
Azmin’s tweet on Feb 11 left many wondering if he was taking a break from politics.
“To all Malaysians. It is a momentary pause in my career for public service that warrants going back to the drawing board.
“Nevertheless, there remains no let-up in my resolve to serve the nation and the rakyat,” he tweeted.
The move also drew flak from his former party, PKR, as its deputy chief information chief Razeef Rakimin reminded the Bersatu supreme council member that he was still an elected representative with the Bukit Antarabangsa state seat and that he had a responsibility to fulfil towards his constituents.
Azmin lost the Gombak parliamentary seat after obtaining 59,538 votes, losing to his former protege, Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari.
Azmin was at the court complex to meet Bersatu’s information chief Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan, who was slapped with two corruption charges by the Sessions Court yesterday.
Echoing Bersatu chief Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Azmin said the charges against Wan Saiful were selective persecution.
He was confident that Perikatan Nasional would be able to win more support at the state elections due to such attacks.
“The statement by the Umno president a few months ago shows that there were plans to weaken Bersatu and Perikatan, and of course, this is another proof of Pakatan and their new friend Umno’s fear given the strong support for Perikatan,” he said.
“Today, I can see the efforts by our enemies to cover their weaknesses and their failure to manage the economy and cost of living effectively,” he said.
“Therefore, to cover their shortcomings, they are attacking Perikatan.
“I am confident that the people are mature enough to see the actions of Umno and Pakatan as evidence of their inability to govern,” he added.
