Khalid thanks PAS for support in face of sharpened PKR knives
(Malay Mail Online) – Beleaguered Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim has thanked PAS for backing him to stay as Selangor mentri besar, in a move that puts the Islamist party on a collision course with allies PKR and DAP.
Saying that Selangor needed the political stability that could only come from his administration, Khalid expressed his gratitude to PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang for stating his case even as the other two Pakatan Rakyat parties clamour for his removal.
“This support is meaningful because Selangor as a developed state needs political stability.
“Together with the present state executive councillors I will ensure the slogan of the 13th general election will be translated into action,” Khalid said in a statement to the Malay Mail Online.
Senior PAS leaders today made it clear that they want Khalid to remain as MB, and will not entertain PKR’s nominee Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail to replace him in the position.
“I have heard all the arguments, and I find that majority of PAS grassroots are in agreement that Khalid Ibrahim should remain as mentri besar,” PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang was quoted today as saying in Terengganu.
But Hadi’s declaration pre-empts a joint announcement scheduled for Hari Raya when the PR presidential council will say whether it is agreeable to Dr Wan Azizah’s nomination.
The open dissent is set to pit PAS against its PR allies of DAP and PKR, who both are reportedly in agreement to remove Khalid, even as ties among the three remain strained by the Islamist party’s ambitions for hudud, the Islamic penal code.
Khalid’s position as mentri besar has remained contentious since his own party initiated the so-called “Kajang Move” to oust him from the position last March.
The move was ostensibly engineered to remove Khalid and to replace him with PKR’s de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, 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 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 (Kidex) 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.
