Two more exco men rebel against MB
THE Erdogan faction in Pas has upped the ante against the ulama group in the party.
(NST) – Besides stopping at nothing to remove Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak who belonged to the latter group, the faction has now got Pas president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang in the crosshairs by questioning why Hadi had not come to Azizan’s aid or resolved the problems in Kedah Pas.
A spokesman for the faction, who preferred anonymity, described Hadi, who leads the ulama group, as having conveniently “washed his hands of” the troubles besieging Kedah Pas.
“We learnt that Hadi and Pas secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali left for Europe on Thursday night.
“It was a hush-hush trip and nobody in the party knows what they are up to when they should be around to resolve the issues in Kedah.”
A check with Pas headquarters confirmed that Hadi and Mustafa left for Europe on Thursday night.
The Erdogan faction’s plan of coercing senior Kedah state executive councillors to decline reappointment when their tenure ends on March 12, as a show of no-confidence in Azizan, intensified after two more Pas excutive councillors decided to drop out from the 10-member state executive council.
This brings to four the number of rebels among the seven Pas councillors.
The latest duo alleged to have switched alliance to the Erdogan faction, believed to be led by Datuk Phahrolrazi Zawawi, are Mohamed Taulan Mat Rasul, the councillor in charge of Islamic religion, education and co-operative development and Datuk Dr Hamdan Mohamed Khalib, who is in charge of youth and sports, arts, heritage and culture.
Members of the Erdogan faction, which is supportive of PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, include Pas deputy president Mohamad Sabu and vice-president Mahfuz Omar. It is also an open secret that Mohamad Sabu is at loggerheads with Azizan.
Taulan is a four-term assemblyman for Tokai since 1995 while Dr Hamdan is a first-term assemblyman for Tanjung Dawai.
Phahrolrazi, the most senior excutive councillor and once touted as replacement to Azizan as menteri besar and as Kedah Pas chief, was the first to decline reappointment.
Datuk Dr Ismail Salleh, a first-term assemblyman for Alor Mengkudu is the councillor in charge of health. He submitted his letter of refusal to Azizan on Sunday, two days after Phahrolrazi (Pengkalan Kundor), the state committee chairman for Housing and Local Government, did so.
According to the spokesman, the three remaining Pas state executive councillors, Datuk Amiruddin Hamzah, Datuk Siti Ashah Ghazali and Datuk Abd Ghani Ahmad, would follow in the footsteps of the “rebel four” soon.
Amiruddin is a two-term assemblyman for Anak Bukit while Siti Asah and Ghani are first-term assemblywoman and assemblyman for Merbau Pulas and Ayer Itam respectively.
Azizan refused to meet reporters or answer their telephone calls.
