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Friday, August 15, 2014

PAS grassroots want to stay with Pakatan, but will follow leadership

The PAS leadership will decide on Sunday whether to back embattled Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim and the decision could spell the end of the Pakatan Rakyat coalition. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Afif Abd Halim, August 15, 2014.The PAS leadership will decide on Sunday whether to back embattled Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim and the decision could spell the end of the Pakatan Rakyat coalition. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Afif Abd Halim, August 15, 2014.
Despite their convictions that PAS must stay in Pakatan Rakyat (PR), grassroots leaders of the Islamist party say they will yield to their leaders’ decision on the menteri besar impasse in Selangor that threatens to break up the pact.
The PAS leadership remained non-committal last night on whether Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim should make way for PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, beyond saying that it was not a gender issue.
“We do not want to be with Umno. We want PAS to remain loyal to PR. We have been together for a long time, we are comfortable working with PKR and DAP,” PAS Subang commissioner Mesni Mohd Dahlan told The Malaysian Insider.
And even if PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s unrelenting support for Khalid eventually costs the party its alliance with other PR component parties, the grassroots leaders said they trusted their leaders’ wisdom.
After a week’s delay, PAS’s central leadership committee will meet on Sunday to discuss PKR’s proposal to replace the Selangor menteri besar with Dr Wan Azizah, who is the Kajang assemblyman.
But Hadi had last month declared his support for Khalid, and a meeting between him and PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Dr Anwar Ibrahim failed to reach a consensus.
Hadi’s stance has caused friction among the PR coalition, with DAP demanding that the Islamist party declare its position ahead of the August 17 meeting.
Several PAS leaders, in defending Khalid, have over the past week trained their guns on DAP, worsening ties among the three parties.
Despite these developments, PAS’s Ismail Hassan, a Selayang Municipal councillor, was confident that party leaders would not sever ties with PKR and DAP.
“I think it’s impossible for PAS to leave PR or that there will be a break-up over this issue. Time will tell.
“Regardless, I stand by what my leaders decide. We understand that we must obey the orders of the leaders, especially when the Shura Council has already made its decision.”
Last week, PAS’s Shura Council, the top decision-making body in the party led by party spiritual leader Datuk Seri Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, declared its support for Khalid.
The decision may have an impact on this Sunday’s meeting, given the Shura’s position as the second highest body in PAS.
Basri Zakariah, the PAS Bandar Baru Kundang chief, believed his leaders have more wisdom than ordinary PAS members in reaching a decision over the crisis.
“Our personal opinions may not be accurate and based on assumptions. Our leaders have the right information. They consult with the experts and a variety of sources before coming to a decision.
“So we rely on our leaders to make the choices, they are wiser in evaluating the decisions. We will just have to wait and see.”
However, Mohamad Abdul Rahman, the PAS chief of Selayang Country Homes division, disagreed with his president’s public declaration of support for Khalid before the matter was discussed by the central committee.
He said several senior members were unhappy with the situation and remained loyal to the party out of respect for Nik Aziz.
“PAS should have proposed to call a PR meeting before giving out a statement supporting Khalid, who was already rejected by his own party.
“Even if he (Hadi) is the president, he should respect the value of different opinions for discussion,” said Mohamad.
“I think even PAS could break up over this due to the differing opinions at so many levels.”
Mohamad added that PAS “must” stay with PR for its survival.
“However, I notice PAS’s reputation is a little tarnished after the Khalid issue. The problem arose because the president spoke up even as we are still in the midst of discussing it.

“It does not mean that I disobey or am not loyal to the leader, but I am merely expressing a view from the grassroots,” he added.
PAS's Hulu Kelang assemblyman Saari Sungib and Morib assemblyman Hasnul Baharuddin yesterday threw their support behind Dr Wan Azizah for the MB's post. They were the first state lawmakers from Selangor PAS to back the PKR president, who is also Anwar's wife.
Saari, a two-term assemblyman, had said he is ready to face the sack from his party and  the prospect of being an independent would not sway his decision.
He had said it was not his stand to go against PAS but added he was doing this to ensure Selangor remained under PR.
Some 30 Selangor assemblymen also declared their loss of confidence in Khalid as MB in Subang Jaya, Selangor, yesterday.
Khalid, the Port Klang assemblyman and Bandar Tun Razak MP, said on Monday that he had the support of the majority in the 56-seat state assembly and that the state sultan wanted him to remain as MB.
- TMI

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