Friday, 15 August 2014 07:30 ITS ABOUT HADI SAVING FACE: We cant decide yet on Azizah, says Mustafa despite her securing support of 30 reps PAS is still undecided on whether it accepted Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as the new Selangor menteri besar (MB), despite allies PKR and DAP backing her as a replacement to embattled Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim. PAS secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali would not say whether the Islamist party, whose leaders are still part of Khalids administration, accepted or rejected Dr Wan Azizah, who is also PKR president. I cannot answer that question, said Mustafa, after chairing the party’s political bureau meeting at its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. PAS has struck to its own stand in the Selangor MB crisis, while PKR and DAP want Khalid removed and replaced with Dr Wan Azizah. The Islamist party has yet to decide whether to go with its allies on Dr Wan Azizah or to support Khalid, who was sacked from his party PKR last week and is no longer considered the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) menteri besar for Selangor. PASs four executive councillors are still serving in their posts and have not left the state administration, unlike the six other DAP and PKR excos, of which five of them were sacked by Khalid while the other one resigned. This has given rise to speculation that PAS could back Khalid against the wishes of the coalition. It would be tantamount to leaving the six-year old PR which has emerged as the strongest alternative to Barisan Nasional. Mustafa repeated the party’s line that it will make a final decision on the Selangor menteri besar post at its central executive committee meeting this Sunday. When asked during a press conference whether PAS rejected Dr Wan Azizah because of her gender, Mustafa said: “No, not because of that. Not because of gender.” On whether she was qualified to be MB, Mustafa replied: “We have already informed PKR. It’s not on gender. I won’t disclose (what PAS told PKR). Mustafa was asked whether PAS has instructed all its assemblypersons in Selangor not to support or accept Dr Wan Azizah as menteri besar. “That has not cropped yet. It has not come to that stage yet,” he said. But, when he was pressed again by reporters after the press conference whether PAS rejected Dr Wan Azizah as MB, Mustafa said, “I do not want to answer that question.” During the press conference, he insisted that the new candidate for menteri besar would come from PKR. “Even though we have 15 seats (in the Selangor assembly) we always maintained that the choice for MB will come from PKR.” PAS and DAP each control 15 seats in the 56 member assembly, while PKR has 13. Umno has 12, while the sole independent seat is held by Khalid. Mustafa also justified PAS’s decision to allow its four leaders to remain as excos, saying that it wanted to prevent the Selangor PR government from collapsing. “We still consider (Selangor) a Pakatan government, so these four are still there even after DAP and PKR (excos) have been sacked. “It’s not necessarily that we support the (current) menteri besar. Under the law, the government has to have a minimum of four excos. “If (our) excos are not there, the government can collapse and that is not acceptable. “We want to be there so that the people can still be served and that the decisions in the interests of the public can still be made.” The four PAS excos are: Iskandar Abdul Samad (housing, building management and urban settlers); Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi (youth, sports, infrastructure and public amenities); Dr Halimah Ali (education, higher education and human resources development); and Sallehen Mukhyi (Islamic affairs, modernisation of agriculture and rural development). Mustafa also said the party would investigate its two assemblymen, Saari Sungib of Hulu Klang and Hasnul Baharuddin of Morib, who yesterday declared their support for Dr Wan Azizah. “It is their personal stance. We will investigate their case. We have already contacted Selangor PAS chief Iskandar Abdul Samad and he will be preparing a report on these two.” Mustafa refused to divulge the action that will be taken against the two who made their stand at a press conference with 27 PKR and DAP assemblypersons. With the stand made by the two, Dr Wan Azizah has gained the support of 30 assemblypersons, or more than two thirds required for her to stake a claim as PR’s candidate for menteri besar. –TMI
Posted on: Fri, 15 Aug 2014 08:44:00 +0000
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