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PAS backs Selangor Chief Minister’s removal, averting rift in opposition

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysian opposition Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) yesterday announced that it no longer supported Mr Abdul Khalid Ibrahim as Selangor’s Chief Minister, heading off a crisis for the country’s opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition.

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysian opposition Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) yesterday announced that it no longer supported Mr Abdul Khalid Ibrahim as Selangor’s Chief Minister, heading off a crisis for the country’s opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition.

The Islamist party said it remained committed to the PR federal opposition pact, but maintained its stand for two names — Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) president Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and PKR deputy president Azmin Ali — to be nominated to the Sultan of Selangor for consideration as a replacement for Mr Khalid.

“We have unanimously agreed to suggest two names to replace Abdul Khalid Ibrahim — Dr Wan Azizah and Mr Azmin Ali,” PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu said at a press conference held after a two-hour PAS Central Committee meeting to discuss the issue.

However, later in the day, the PR presidential council decided to nominate only Dr Wan Azizah.

“Azmin said he would stick by the party’s decision to nominate Dr Wan Azizah as the (Chief Minister) candidate,” PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim said at a press conference.

PR, which comprises PKR, PAS and the Democratic Action Party (DAP), was formed in the wake of the March 2008 general election and helms Selangor, Malaysia’s wealthiest state. However, the pact has been dogged by divisions.

Those differences have burst into the open over the leadership of Selangor, an industrial hub neighbouring Kuala Lumpur that the opposition won control of in 2008 in a huge setback for the Barisan Nasional (BN) government and retained last year.

On Thursday, Dr Wan Azizah urged Mr Khalid to resign from his post after announcing that she had the support of 30 representatives in the 56-seat state assembly.

However, the embattled Chief Minister refused to acknowledge her claim of securing majority support, saying it had to be substantiated with a motion of no-confidence.

Mr Khalid was expelled from PKR two weeks ago over his open defiance of the party’s decision that he must step down to make way for Dr Wan Azizah. The second-term Chief Minister has been widely criticised for his handling of various state issues.

Last Monday, the Selangor Sultan consented to Mr Khalid remaining in his post, as the latter said he still commanded the support of the majority in the House.

The next day, Mr Khalid sacked his state executive councillors from PKR and DAP, purportedly for refusing to cooperate with him as Chief Minister. The members of the state executive committee are drawn from the state legislative assembly and form the state government’s executive branch.

However, PAS has said its representatives would continue to serve under Mr Khalid, until and unless the party’s leadership decided otherwise.

Yesterday, Mr Khalid said he accepted “with an open heart” the Islamist party’s decision on his position, as well as the party’s stance that its four Selangor exco members continue to work under him for the time being so state government services are not disrupted.

“Until the Sultan makes his final decision, I will continue to administer Selangor with the four PAS exco members to ensure the people are not affected by this crisis,” he said in a statement.

The Selangor Sultan is on an overseas trip and is scheduled to return next Wednesday.

PKR’s share of the 56-seat state assembly is 13, while DAP and PAS have 15 seats each. The United Malays National Organisation, the lynchpin in the governing BN, holds 12 seats.

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