PKR sticks to guns, tells PAS to consider Dr Wan Azizah as sole MB candidate

Zurairi AR, Malay Mail Online

PKR insisted yesterday that Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail remains its sole candidate for Selangor mentri besar, despite the issue possibly souring ties between the party and its allies in PAS.

Speaking on the matter again last night, Dr Wan Azizah herself indicated that PKR will not back down on the issue and PAS must consider the decision.

“Our party has one candidate, they have to consider that. This is our choice, our party’s choice,” the PKR president told reporters after her party’s political bureau meeting.

Malay Mail Online reported yesterday that PAS officials said the closed-door emergency meeting between PKR’s Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang in Terengganu on Monday did not result in any resolution to the protracted dispute as both party leaders would not budge from their respective positions.

The deadlock fuels speculation that the fledgling Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pact could be heading for a break-up over the MB crisis.

Anwar had rushed to meet Hadi in the unscheduled meeting hoping to get an assurance from the leader that PAS will support PKR’s manoeuvres in the unresolved political crisis in Selangor.

The meeting came after PKR’s decision to sack Khalid from the party did not result in the leader’s removal or resignation from his post as mentri besar.

Instead, Khalid met with the Selangor Sultan and obtained the ruler’s consent to continue on in his post, effectively scuppering PKR’s plan to elect Dr Wan Azizah as his replacement.

The embattled mentri besar’s sacking leaves PR in a precarious state in Selangor, and adds to worries that snap polls may have to be called to ward off a stalemate.

Without Khalid, PKR’s share of the 56-seat Selangor state assembly drops to 13 from 14 while allies DAP and PAS have 15 seats each. Umno, the opposition in the state, holds 12.