Selangor Pas backs Khalid’s decision

(NST) SHAH ALAM: Selangor Pas supports the state government's decision not to ban the sale of alcohol in Muslim-majority areas in the state, a Pas state executive council member said yesterday.

Education, Higher Education and Human Capital Development Committee chairman Dr Halimah Ali said Selangor Pas agreed that premises selling alcoholic drinks should be self-regulatory in the matter of the sale of alcoholic beverages to Muslims and minors.

She said Pas never had a conflict of opinion with the state government as reported, and the decision by Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim to implement the self-regulatory mechanism fulfilled the demand of the Islamist party.

Halimah, who is an exco member of the national Pas women's wing, said Selangor Pas officials had agreed, during an emergency meeting on Friday, to support the state government's decision on the issue.

On DAP's call for Pakatan Rakyat to set up a board to take disciplinary action against state Pas commissioner Datuk Dr Hassan Mohamed Ali for his outburst in demanding that fellow state exco member Ronnie Liu be stripped of his local government portfolio for having "interfered" in the matter, Halimah said it was just a misunderstanding.