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Big fight in PAS – over Khalid

Mat Sabu (right) is all alone as Nik Aziz (left) and Ahmad Yakcob join Hadi Awang (center) in his support for Khalid as the Selangor MB:-

SHAH ALAM: A major rift is developing in PAS – and it is over a PKR leader.

PAS spiritual adviser Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat has backed party president Datuk Seri Hadi Awang in his support for Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, leaving deputy president Mohamad Sabu isolated with a small group.

In the same camp with Nik Aziz and Hadi is Kelantan Mentri Besar, Datuk Ahmad Yakob, who is also the acting PAS Dewan Ulama chief.

“At first, I was reluctant to comment on this issue, but I have been questioned relentlessly by the media over the past few days.

“I have read the president’s statement and I support it fully,” Nik Aziz said in a statement on Saturday.

On Friday, Hadi told a ceramah in Terengganu that the majority of the PAS grassroots agreed that Khalid should remain as Mentri Besar although there are moves by the PKR leadership to remove him.

In an immediate reaction, Mohamad Sabu said Hadi’s statement was merely his personal opinion, and not PAS’ official stand. However, the support given by Nik Aziz means Mat Sabu, as he is popularly known, may be under attack.

PAS’ Dewan Ulama has brushed off Mat Sabu’s claim, saying the president’s statement was the stand of every single PAS member, and maintained there was no case to sack Khalid.

Ahmad said the body had found that Khalid had not committed any betrayal of leadership, breach of trust or any act of corruption.

Nik Aziz also felt Khalid had done no wrong.

“Like many other parties in this country, I wonder what mistake or flaw Tan Sri Khalid had committed to warrant being removed from the Mentri Besar’s post?” he said.

The former Kelantan Mentri Besar said Khalid was retained in the seat after an excellent show of leadership in his previous term, which contributed to the improvement of Pakatan Rakyat’s performance in Selangor.

“The question that remains is – has Khalid’s performance deteriorated? And if indeed he has committed any mistake or error, is it to the extent that he should be removed?” asked Nik Aziz, who called for the Pakatan Rakyat council to address this question before entertaining any talk of a new Mentri Besar.

He also likened Hadi to the captain of a ship, and expressed complete confidence that the party president had received sufficient information before coming out in support of Khalid.

“It is enough for me to say, for now, that PAS members need to put their utmost loyalty to what their president has said. Yes, the captain could be wrong, but if so many members of the crew wants to be the captain, the ship will not sail well,” he added.

Nik Aziz urged Pakatan leaders to solve the problem well and prioritise internal discussions and “not bore the rakyat with petty arguments”.

“To me, this is a minor conflict, and working towards a solution will mature our relationship in Pakatan,” he said.

Nik Aziz also stressed the importance of keeping grassroots members informed so that the reasons behind the attitudes and actions of leadership actions were clear.

PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had recently announced that the Pakatan Rakyat presidential council had accepted PKR’s suggestion to replace Khalid with PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail. Khalid subsequently said he would only step down if the proper procedure was followed.

In a statement, PKR secretary-general Datuk Saifuddin Nasution Ismail insisted that the decision to replace Khalid with Kajang assemblyman Dr Wan Azizah was unanimously accepted by all component parties.

Anwar also followed up with a statement yesterday, where he said that the Kajang Move was decided unanimously by the party leadership since Jan 15 this year.

– THE STAR

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