Bite your tongues, Azmin warns PKR as MB deadlock worsens

(Malay Mail Online) – PKR leaders must exercise restraint in the worsening Selangor mentri besar crisis that has seen open hostilities with ally PAS, deputy president Azmin Ali warned today.

Azmin, who was previously proposed as a possible MB candidate by PAS, said that while the party was now facing difficulties, experience has shown that these could be overcome through the spirit of co-operation with allies in Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

“I urge all leaders and members of Keadilan to be calm and not do anything that will worsen the political climate.

“Pakatan Rakyat’s unity needs bolstering. As such, I hope leaders and members will not bicker, but remain civil, calm and wise in the situation,” he said in a statement today.

Disagreement over nominees for the Selangor mentri besar post has pit PKR and DAP on one side against PAS on the other, stemming from the Islamist party’s refusal to join the two in naming only Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail for the position.

The situation grew more intractable after PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang unilaterally named three nominees for the post in accordance with the Sultan of Selangor’s request; PKR and DAP were adamant in naming only Dr Wan Azizah.

The Selangor ruler today accused the two parties of disobedience for failing to comply with the request for at least three names to be presented by each party for his selection, and said he will now also consider those not named by the pact in the search for a new mentri besar.

Today, Azmin said that it was PKR’s policy to uphold the systems of parliamentary democracy and the constitutional monarch as among the pillars of government.

The senior PAS leadership has consistently stood apart from its PR allies in PKR’s intricate bid to replace Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim with Dr Wan Azizah, leading to growing questions over its commitment to the pact and open calls for its exit.