Khalid’s sacking allows PAS to agree to new Selangor MB, say sources

By admin-s On Aug 11, 2014

(TMI) – PKR’s expulsion of rebellious Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim has provided an escape clause for ally PAS, which has split over whether to stick with the two-term Selangor Menteri Besar or to submit to the demand to replace him.

The Islamist party has come to terms with Khalid’s sacking, according to sources from the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pact. The issue, however, is no longer about keeping him but their reservation over having PKR’s choice, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, to lead Malaysia’s richest state.

Before this, a segment of conservative leaders in PAS, led by its president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, were adamant that Khalid be kept until his term in office ends.

Their stand had caused friction between PAS’s partners PKR and DAP, who both want Khalid out over numerous complaints against the former corporate captain for running Selangor without consulting his party PKR, as well as the national PR leadership.

Khalid had also been criticised for his handling of issues such as the water crisis, the Selangor Islamic Religious Department’s seizure of Bibles in Malay and Iban, and the Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex) which upset some PR leaders as it was seen as going against the pact’s election manifesto to abolish tolled highways.

Despite acknowledging his expulsion, the Port Klang assemblyman had called his sacking “flawed and illegal”, and vowed to remain as MB pending advice from the state ruler.

The Malay Rulers Advisory Council is scheduled to meet today to discuss the ongoing crisis in the state.

A senior PR leader told The Malaysian Insider that Khalid was no longer an issue with PAS.

“He has already been sacked and is no longer the legitimate MB. They have accepted the issue as the past.

“The question on who will be the MB is the issue,” said the leader on the condition of anonymity.