Respect our right to choose Selangor MB, PKR tells PAS
Amin Iskandar, The Malaysian Insider
PKR has requested its Islamist ally, PAS, to respect its right to determine who will replace Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim as Selangor menteri besar.
PKR secretary-general Datuk Saifudin Nasution Ismail said the party’s central leadership council meeting on July 21 had decided that its president, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, would replace Khalid.
“Pakatan Rakyat’s leadership council meeting on July 23, which was attended by PAS’s top leaders, agreed to respect PKR’s right to determine the Selangor menteri besar candidate,” Saifuddin (pic) told The Malaysian Insider.
“So there was no issue of PAS wanting any ‘compromise candidate’ from PKR to become the Selangor MB.”
It was reported today that PAS leaders have recommended Ijok assemblyman Dr Idris Ahmad as the compromise candidate to break the deadlock over the Selangor menteri besar post.
Chinese daily Sin Chew quoted a PKR source and said the party was expected to name the gynaecologist as a compromise, to put an end to the crisis which has threatened to split Pakatan Rakyat.
“When PAS’s top leaders have agreed that PKR has the right to choose the menteri besar candidate, there is no issue of the Selangor PAS chief disagreeing or Selangor PAS disagreeing.
“Up to today, PKR has only one candidate to replace Khalid, and that is Dr Wan Azizah,” said Saifuddin.
Sin Chew wrote that Khalid had no objection to Dr Idris being made the MB, and the Selangor palace is not expected to object to having Dr Idris, who is the Ijok assemblyman, as Khalid’s replacement.
The Ijok seat was previously held by Khalid before the 2013 national polls.
Dr Idris, who runs his clinic in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, is seen as a non-controversial and respected PKR leader who entered politics during the reformasi movement.
PAS leaders also hope that choosing Dr Idris, who is from Selangor, will soften Khalid’s hardline position to stay put.
Sin Chew said appointing Dr Idris would also address misgivings among PAS’s conservative elements about having a woman to helm the country’s richest state.
The report said PKR’s concern was the possible objection from supporters of the party’s deputy president, Azmin Ali.
On Saturday, The Malaysian Insider quoted a source as saying that efforts were being made to find an alternative to Dr Wan Azizah for the top post. A PKR candidate had been identified, but he cannot be named until a consensus is reached between the parties in the coalition.
But the source told The Malaysian Insider that Azmin was rejected by the PAS leadership.
