Hadi’s support for Khalid is not PAS’s stand, Mat Sabu says

(Malay Mail Online) – Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s support for Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim to remain as Selangor Mentri Besar is not PAS’s official stand, the party president’s deputy Mohamad Sabu has said.

Mohamad, popularly referred to as Mat Sabu, said Hadi’s backing of Khalid was only a “personal” view and insisted that PAS would only state its official position on whether or not it agrees to replace Khalid after the top leadership meets on August 10.

“That is his personal view, we will meet on August 10. On August 10 it will be the party’s official stand,” online news portal Antarapos had quoted Mohamad as saying.

The PAS number two added that any decision reached in that meeting will be respected by all members in the party.

“Whatever the decision, we will observe it,” he said.

Yesterday, Hadi publicly expressed his support for Khalid to remain as Selangor Mentri Besar despite allies PKR and the DAP’s open declaration that they want Khalid replaced.

“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,” Hadi was quoted as saying in Terengganu yesterday.

Hadi’s defiance, if followed through as PAS’s official position, could push Selangor into a leadership crisis and possibly force the state to hold early elections, observers said.

Political pundits also believe that a snap polls could break the three-party Pakatan Rakyat coalition.

In a strongly-worded statement earlier this week, Khalid warned that any attempt to replace him must be done according to the state legislative enactment, which contained several processes or provisions before a new state mentri besar can assume office.

Khalid survived his own party’s abortive “Kajang Move” to oust him from the position last March, but surfacing controversies in the state have since renewed the push to have him replaced.

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 PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail previously touted as the most likely candidate.