DAP stands by ‘traitor’ label on PAS four who stayed on under Khalid rule

(Malay Mail Online) – DAP will not retract its “traitor” label on the four PAS lawmakers who remained in Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim’s administration during the Selangor leadership crisis, Lim Guan Eng said today.

The DAP secretary-general said the decision to declare the four men traitors was not a personal one but was made collectively during the party’s central executive committee (CEC) Monday night.

“It was a motion agreed by all in the CEC meeting so it was the party’s stand, not my personal stand on this,” he told a press conference at his office today.

On Monday night, Lim had issued a statement on the outcome of the CEC emergency meeting, outlining the party leadership’s endorsement of PKR deputy president Azmin Ali as the new Selangor Mentri Besar.

In the statement, DAP also labelled the four PAS excos as traitors for betraying the principles of solidarity and democracy, and for failing to stand loyally together with the six DAP and PKR exco members who were sacked by Khalid.

One of PAS Selangor excos, Sallehin Mukhyi, later responded to the statement, calling Lim selfish and ignorant.

The PAS man also defended his and his colleagues’ decision not to resign, claiming they had acted as the last line of defence for the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) state government that was at that point on the brink of collapse.

On Azmin’s appointment, Lim repeated his party’s decision to offer its full support to the new chief executive of the nation’s richest state.

“We believe he will serve the people and administer the state based on the principles of Pakatan Rakyat, as agreed by PKR and DAP,” he said.

He expressed hope that Azmin will fulfil his duties by serving everyone in the state and not only certain groups.