PAS spiritual leader and head of the party’s Syura Council Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat said in a statement that the council had deliberated on the matter in a meeting held in Kota Bharu yesterday and unanimously decided against replacing Khalid.
The council also reminded its allies in PR that the right to determine who take up the post belongs to all three parties, a statement that contradicts PKR’s view that it had precedence over the matter as agreed upon by the coalition leadership.
“We have unanimously decided that all parties have rights over the Mentri Besar post as agreed upon by the three PR component parties to let Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim continue as Mentri Besar in Selangor for the second term.
“So as long as he is not convicted of any wrongdoing that requires the post to be dropped, the Syura Council has decided to retain Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim as Selangor Mentri Besar,” it said.
The statement added that the council will have no problem reassessing its stand should Khalid be convicted by “authoritative” agencies like the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
The Syura Council’s decision could further complicate the ongoing crisis and cast doubt on any prospects of averting a PR breakup. It comes ahead of a crucial meeting this Sunday among PR member parties on how to resolve the row over Khalid’s position.
Today’s announcement is also an endorsement of Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s open support for Khalid to retain the post despite some PAS’s leaders insistence that the party president’s backing was only his personal stand.
But despite concerns of a potential collapse of PR, which many have blamed on PAS, the Syura Council said today that the party remains committed to the federal opposition bloc.
“The Syura council would like to stress again that PAS will remain steadfast with the struggles of Islam as enshrined in the party constitution and will continue to give commitment to PR,” it said.
Earlier today Dr Wan Azizah said she has been observing the ongoing developments and expressed worry that the emotions and sentiments expressed by the PR allies have been anything but positive.
She said, however, that she believes that all parties want the best for Selangor folk and on a wider scale of things, for Malaysians.
“We must remember, PR, which has existed since 2008, is the manifestation of the people’s hope. If this weren’t true, how did we snap up 52 per cent of the popular vote in Election 2013?” she said.
Yesterday, it was reported that Khalid had replied to PKR’s show cause note but labelled it a “defective” letter.
The besieged Khalid also stressed that he still commanded the confidence of the majority in the Selangor legislative assembly, in his written reply to the show-cause letter posted on the state government’s Selangorku website.
PKR, in its show-cause letter to Khalid, had said that his refusal to relinquish his post as MB ran contrary to the central leadership council’s July 21 decision to elect Dr Wan Azizah as his replacement.
The PR party also said in the letter that the PKR leadership had already agreed to his removal on January 15 and that the “Kajang move” was initiated for this very purpose.
Malaymail
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