Selangor PAS backs Hassan, says Selcat should be open to criticism
(The Star) PETALING JAYA: Selangor PAS has come to the defence of its chief Datuk Dr Hasan Ali, saying that the state assembly’s Select Committee on Competency, Accountability and Transpa-rency (Selcat) should be open to criticism and feedback.
State liaison committee secretary Mohd Khairuddin Othman said Selcat was not immune from weaknesses.
“Feedback will help improve Selcat and strengthen its integrity in the eyes of the public,” he said in a statement yesterday.
He was responding to criticism against Dr Hasan – who also came under fire from within his own party – for hitting out at Selcat for “grilling” senior civil servants over allocations.
Selcat is headed by assembly Speaker Teng Chang Khim.
Mohd Khairuddin said the Selangor PAS supported Dr Hasan’s call for changes to Selcat’s procedures.
“Selangor PAS does not dispute the validity of Selcat but we suggest that it should follow the workings of the court system where it has discretion to deal with its own matters,” he said.
Yesterday, Dr Hasan, a former district officer himself, reiterated that questioning the district officers based on wrongdoings of past politicians could be destructive.
“And one must bear in mind that the Selcat panel are human beings, not saints and they can sometimes have their own self-serving agenda.
“I am not against the formation of Selcat but we need to revamp its procedures and techniques,” he said.
PKR’s Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, meanwhile, said PAS should support Selcat as it was intended to ensure transparency and integrity in the state administration.
“If PAS supports Selcat, why is Hasan allowed to challenge this body? What is the point of PAS promising in its manifesto to be a transparent government, that wants to abolish the Official Secrets Act, that wants to draft the new Freedom of Information Act, if the noble efforts of Selcat in Selangor is opposed and challenged by PAS,” he wrote in his blog yesterday.
Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Umno would not welcome Dr Hasan should he leave his party.
“No, not Hasan Ali. We can’t reaccept him into Umno. I have had some bad experiences with this guy,” he said when asked if Umno would readmit its former member.
Dr Mahathir said conflicts within the Pakatan were rife and the people could see for themselves.
“All their problems is because they are a political marriage of convenience between DAP, PAS and PKR. Each party is tugging in different directions.
“Selangor’s Pakatan government is not an alternative government for the people. It is an informal arrangement with the aim to wreck havoc in the state and it is evident with the on-going in-fighting,” he told reporters during a visit to NGV Tech Sdn Bhd’s shipyard in Banting.
