PAS stalling succession talks to keep Khalid as Selangor MB, sources say

(Malay Mail Online) -PAS’s central leadership is not keen on removing Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim as Selangor mentri besar and remains Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) biggest obstacle to reaching a consensus on who should lead the country’s richest state, according to political sources familiar with the ongoing leadership crisis.

The Malay Mail Online understands that although some key PAS leaders like Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad want a new mentri besar installed, both PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang and PAS secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali are in full support of Khalid Ibrahim.

Both Abdul Hadi and Mustafa had apparently made that clear last week during a private meeting with him.

One source in Khalid Ibrahim’s office told the Malay Mail Online that the PAS president had even given Khalid a “personal guarantee” that the Islamist party would back him until he serves out his term, even if DAP or PKR decided otherwise.

“Last week’s meeting with Khalid (Ibrahim) was not just a courtesy call. Hadi spoke to Khalid and said that issues against the Selangor MB was not enough to call for his removal.

“Hadi has assured Khalid that PAS wants him to remain in charge of Selangor,” said the source.

Adding to the imbroglio is the fact that PR has yet to agree on a candidate to replace Khalid Ibrahim.

While some within the pact want PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail to take over, several leaders in PKR’s Selangor chapter still prefer her deputy Azmin Ali, who is now making a renewed bid for the post by lobbying among DAP and PAS.

“It is reaching a breaking point in PAS. Although many leaders like Khalid Samad, Dr Hatta Ramli want Khalid to resign as MB, Hadi is adamant on keeping Khalid in charge of Selangor.

“The key point is that a Pakatan consensus is needed for a change in MB, and that is what is not happening.

“The PAS leadership is stalling discussions and deliberations on how to move forward and remove MB Khalid,” a senior PR leader told the Malay Mail Online on condition of anonymity.

The PR source said many leaders were in favour of Dr Wan Azizah, and that reports of PAS’s sudden tilt of support towards Azmin was another means in which to stall any succession talks.

“The key word is consensus. So if some want Wan Azizah to be MB, and PAS suddenly backs Azmin, there is no consensus, correct? So no agreement reached… therefore, Khalid will have to remain as MB,” he said.

But Abdul Hadi will not be able to keep stalling any longer, as the whole MB issue is affecting PAS’ ties with coalition partner DAP who want Khalid Ibrahim removed.

“A decision will have to be made soon.

“As for Azmin, he is lobbying to be the choice replacement… he is just trying his luck, but it is his right to. If a decision is made by PKR to go with Wan Azizah, he will toe the party line,” the source said.

PAS secretary-general Mustafa said on Monday deliberations on the matter would be made before the end of Ramadan.

Both Astro Awani and The Star carried news reports yesterday quoting an anonymous source saying that the decision to appoint Azmin as the next MB is awaiting the endorsement of Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

The source had said that Azmin is believed to have been chosen over PKR president Dr Wan Azizah as PAS reportedly has issues with her gender.

But Azmin himself later rubbished reports of him winning DAP and PAS’s support to replace Khalid as Selangor mentri besar, saying he was not even present at a closed-door tripartite meeting where the decision was supposedly made.

The PKR deputy president added that not only was he not at the meeting purportedly held on Monday night, he was not even in the country.

“I have no idea. I am in Medina (Saudi Arabia). Already left KL yesterday (Monday),” Azmin told the Malay Mail Online via text message yesterday.

Khalid’s position as mentri besar has remained contentious since his own party, PKR, initiated the so-called “Kajang Move” to oust him from the position in March.

The move was ostensibly engineered to remove Khalid and to replace him with PKR’s de facto leader Anwar, who had intended to contest the Kajang state seat, which was vacated in February.

But the “Kajang move” fell through after the appellate court overturned his sodomy acquittal and sentenced him to five years in jail, days before the by-election’s nomination. Anwar has filed for an appeal against this decision.

Although Anwar’s disqualification had then appeared to put to rest plans to remove Khalid, recent controversies involving the Selangor administration have prompted new agitations for his removal.

Among others, these include the still-unresolved row over the seizure of bibles in the state and Khalid’s perceived partiality towards the developers of the proposed Kinrara-Damansara Expressway that is facing mounting resistance from state residents.

A major barrier to Khalid’s removal was the absence of a clear candidate to replace him, with Dr Wan Azizah previously being touted as the most likely candidate.