It’s not Amanah’s stand

PETALING JAYA: A Parti Amanah Negara leader’s call to reject the royal pardon for Datuk Seri Najib Razak has continued to attract a flurry of debates over the issue.Party chief Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu said the Yang di-Pertuan Agong has the right to decide whether the former prime minister should be pardoned.

“Hence, all parties must respect the decision of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong,” he said.

Mohamad said individual opinions do not represent the stance of a party or organisation.

He said this after the party’s communication director Khalid Abdul Samad’s plea to the King and the Pardons Board to reject the royal pardon for Najib.

On Friday, Khalid was quoted as saying that although Amanah acknowledged and recognised that forgiveness was the absolute right of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, it was of the view that pardoning Najib would send a bad message to the people, the national justice system and also to the world regarding our attitude and stance towards corruption and misuse of power.

Mohamad said Amanah leaders have the right to voice their views but they are ultimately bound by the party’s decision.

He added that Amanah and its partners in Pakatan Harapan were bound by the coalition’s decision, even if it clashed with the individual party’s decision.

“The same goes with the unity government, the decision made by the coalition under the unity government supersedes the decisions made by parties or individual political coalitions and (the decision by the unity government) must be prioritised,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Meanwhile, Khalid agreed with Mohamad’s statement.

“I agree with the president’s statement. It’s a general and factual statement,” he said when contacted.

However, when asked if he would like to say something to Umno, Khalid requested that the party accept the differences in opinion.

“Please accept the differences in opinion. As we respect your right to support the appeal, please acknowledge our right to differ,” he said, adding that he would not retract his previous statement.

“Lastly, we work together on what we agree and put what we disagree aside. Set our priorities and fight extremism – religious and racial – is No. 1.”

In a related note, Amanah deputy president Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub apologised to Umno if the statement by Khalid had offended Umno members and said it was not a party stand.

At the Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house at Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s official residence in Putrajaya yesterday, both Salahuddin and Ahmad Zahid said that all was well between the two parties.

“I understand that the statement by the Amanah individual was a personal statement and not the party’s stand.

“He must understand how to work with all the other parties and not make his own statements. He should come and see me personally to understand the stand of Umno on the issue which he has raised. There are many parties in harmony in the unity government – do not find the dissenting points – but find how we can come together.

“The narrative should be a positive one for the unity government. I have met Kelantan Umno and their reaction to Khalid’s statement is because they felt that a response must be made over his statement. We have resolved the issue and we hope to harmonise the situation.

“On April 28, the Pardons Board did not include the royal pardon of Najib as they felt the time needed to be right. I ask the Umno members to stay calm and we have made the official stand by Umno to support the royal pardon for Najib,” said Ahmad Zahid.

“We are now focused on the people’s concerns. Whatever that has been said crossed the line. This tends to happen. There is no shame in apologising when one has crossed the line,” said Salahuddin.

Commenting on the issue, Umno supreme council member Datuk Puad Zakarshi said Amanah could only be a political friend and not an ally.

“Umno did not make noise when the Pardons Board did not discuss the Najib case two days ago,” he said in a Facebook post.

Meanwhile, Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said Khalid’s statement about rejecting the pardon was totally uncalled for.

“There are bound to be loose cannons in every party. So we do not take such statements into consideration. If we want to preserve harmony and good ties, please do not make statements that can have a negative impact on others,” he said in Rantau.