Wan Azizah in line for top Selangor job

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysian opposition party Parti Keadikan Rakyat (PKR) has endorsed its President, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, to be the next Chief Minister of Selangor, completing a move by the party to replace the incumbent in Malaysia’s richest state.

Dr Wan Azizah, who is the state assemblywoman for Kajang, and her husband and PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim announced the decision after a marathon meeting at the party headquarters in Petaling Jaya that ended after midnight yesterday.

“The name that has been proposed is Wan Azizah as the party president and I believe she can ensure stability for PKR and Pakatan,” Anwar told reporters, referring to the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) opposition coalition made up of PKR, the Democratic Action Party (DAP) and Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS).

Anwar said the change in the state’s leadership would take place “as soon as possible”.

Second-term Chief Minister Abdul Khalid Ibrahim has been widely criticised over his handling of various state issues and has been facing immense pressure to step down.

Dr Wan Azizah won the Kajang by-election in March after she replaced Anwar, who was disqualified from contesting the Selangor state seat following an Appeals Court ruling that upheld his 2008 conviction for sodomising a former aide.

Anwar’s attempt to contest the by-election was widely seen as allowing him to take over as Chief Minister.

Yesterday, Anwar said that PKR would submit the proposal for PR’s endorsement at the coalition’s leadership council meeting today.

PAS agreed to the removal of Mr Khalid after a series of high-level and intense meetings with PR partners on Monday.

The party also agreed not to stake a claim to the post for itself, although PAS and DAP each hold 15 seats in the state assembly against PKR’s 14.

Anwar yesterday said Dr Wan Azizah would be able to solve outstanding issues, such as the water restructuring exercise and garbage collection, that have plagued the state. THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER