PAS riding Selangor MB crisis to push own interests, analysts say

By MT Webmaster On Jul 30, 2014

“Some of them really believe that Khalid has done nothing wrong. Some see this as a potential tool to break up Pakatan and to bring PAS as a standalone party or with Umno. They all converge on defending Khalid. There’s no one easy answer,” the chief executive of think tank, Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs, added.

Boo Su-Lyn, Malay Mail Online

PAS conservatives’ support for Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim in his standoff with PKR over the Selangor mentri besar’s post is rooted in a desire to see the Islamist party re-assert itself within Pakatan Rakyat (PR), political analysts said.

The Islamist party’s vocal defence of Khalid was not clear cut or purely based on an approval of his performance, according to one analyst, who suggested the PAS ulama faction was using the issue to further its own interests.

“Some are using it as punishment for PKR and Anwar for initiating the ‘Kajang Move’ without any respect for coalition partners,” Wan Saiful Wan Jan told Malay Mail Online yesterday, referring to PKR de facto chief Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

The so-called “Kajang Move” was launched by PKR in March to unseat Khalid, but fell through when Anwar’s bid for a state seat was scuppered by his second sodomy conviction.

But on Sunday, Anwar — who also heads the federal opposition pact — said the latest bid to replace Khalid was simply an extension of the same move, which he said PKR had finalised and communicated to Khalid in March.

Although Khalid survived the abortive “Kajang Move” then, surfacing controversies in the state have since renewed the push to have him replaced.

At a PR leadership council meeting last week, top leaders from PKR, DAP and PAS agreed to the nomination of PKR president and Anwar’s wife, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, to replace Khalid as MB.

It was previously reported that PAS disagreed with Dr Wan Azizah’s nomination due to gender issues, but political observers said this was not the crux of the party’s rejection.

“That’s part of it; but it’s also because there are ideological differences between PKR and the PAS conservative faction, which are unresolved or unresolvable, such as the hudud issue,” Centre for Policy Initiatives director Dr Lim Teck Ghee told Malay Mail Online, referring to the controversial Islamic penal code.

“The PAS conservative backing is also clearly opportunistic to strengthen their own positions within the party and the coalition, especially in Selangor,” he added.

PAS is currently bent on enforcing hudud in Kelantan, but has been criticised vociferously by allies DAP and PKR for its ambitions.

Analysts previously said the Islamist party was renewing its push for the controversial Islamic penal code to try and stamp its mark on the pact, following the party’s losses in Election 2013 that saw its allies grow in strength.

Professor Dr Jayum Jawan from Universiti Putra Malaysia said the PAS conservatives’ backing of Khalid, who has refused to leave his post, was to keep Anwar in check.

“Otherwise, Anwar may grow too powerful,” Jayum told Malay Mail Online. “PAS is trying to position itself in Pakatan. It boils down to a power play.”

Just two days after a PR presidential meeting agreed last week to consider PKR’s nomination of Dr Wan Azizah as Selangor MB, PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang openly stated that Khalid should remain in the post, pre-empting an August 10 decision on the bid.

Hadi, who was not present at the PR leadership council meeting, has since gained the support of the party’s powerful ulama council, including the wing’s acting chief Datuk Ahmad Yakob and PAS spiritual adviser Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat.

Conflict over the Selangor MB post is again testing the ties among the three PR parties, whose bonds remain tenuous due primarily to fundamental ideological differences on issues such as hudud.

The same differences previously broke up the predecessor to the current pact, Barisan Alternatif, ahead of Election 2004 that saw rivals Barisan Nasional record its most dominant electoral performance.