Pas to submit third name to Selangor palace

(NST) – Pas will defy its Pakatan allies and nominate a third person to replace Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.

A high-ranking party official told the New Straits Times yesterday that the party would submit three names, including that of PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and her deputy, Azmin Ali, to the Selangor palace for consideration.

The official said Pas would obey Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah’s decree on Aug 26 for the Islamist party, PKR and DAP to nominate at least three candidates for the menteri besar’s post by tomorrow.

“It is better to have the third name anyway as it could be the solution in case something goes wrong with the other two names.” Khalid was sacked from PKR on Aug 9 as part of the party’s attempt to replace him with Dr Wan Azizah, the wife of de facto party leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. 

The move had been met with fierce criticism, with Pas leading the charge in insisting that Khalid be retained.

It then changed its stance and supported the move to remove Khalid, but remained steadfast in complying with the palace’s decree. 

Two assemblymen from PKR — Dr Idris Ahmad of Ijok and Dr Yaakob Sapari of Kota Anggerik — are thought to be the front runners to be the third Pas “wild card” candidate.

The Pas official said a decision on the matter would be made in a meeting before the deadline.

“However, I have not yet been notified of the date and time of the meeting, but it should be held before Wednesday (tomorrow).”

The official said the Selangor leadership crisis would likely be discussed during debates at the party’s upcoming muktamar (annual general assembly) from Sept 18 to 20 in Johor.

The venue of the assembly, initially set to be in Johor Baru but would likely to be changed to “somewhere outside the state capital”, will be decided after a party leadership meeting on Sept 7. 

On efforts by certain quarters to “persuade” Selangor Pas assemblymen to sign a statutory declaration (SD) in support of Dr Wan Azizah’s candidacy, the official said the matter was being handled by the Selangor party leaders.

The party’s patience has been pushed to the limit, with  Selangor Pas secretary Mohd Khairuddin Othman declaring on Sunday that the party would expose “the lobbyists” if this continued.

The move has widened rifts in the loose opposition pact, with two Pas assemblymen, Saari Sungib (Hulu Klang) and Hasnul Baharuddin (Morib), along with their DAP and PKR counterparts, signing a SD on Aug 14 in support of Dr Wan Azizah. The remaining 13 Selangor Pas assemblymen did not sign the SD.

This did not sit well with the Selangor Pas ulama wing, which passed a motion on Saturday condemning Saari and Hasnul. The motion will be forwarded to the party’s disciplinary committee for action to be taken against the two.

Meanwhile, Pas Youth chief Suhaizan Kaiat said the party’s wing was concerned with the developments in Selangor, particularly the tussle in Pakatan over the choice of the new menteri besar.

On the wish by certain quarters in Pas, particularly from Kelantan, to field a candidate for the upcoming Pengkalan Kubor by-election on Sept 25, Suhaizan said the matter should be “amicably discussed” with PKR, which had also insisted on contesting the seat despite losing there in the last two general elections.