A PAS leader will make a better MB than Anwar’s puppet, says Utusan

Umno mouthpiece Utusan Malaysia said it preferred a PAS leader as the Selangor menteri besar as it trusted the Islamist party to manage the state’s RM5 billion reserve instead of PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (pic).

Awang Selamat, the pseudonym for the ‎collective voice of the paper’s editors, wrote that they were "excited" by the Islamist party's move to submit three names for the top post‎ to the Selangor palace.

"The more choices, the better. What's the harm in a PAS candidate becoming the MB? Give a chance to the party, which has the right and the merits to do so in Selangor‎.

"Besides, Awang trusts a PAS leader to manage the RM5 billion reserves more than the PKR adviser Anwar Ibrahim's puppet candidate," wrote Awang in the paper weekend edition Mingguan Malaysia today, referring to Dr Wan Azizah.

However, he said he was perturbed by the fighting between the "Anwarinas" (those who support opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) and the "Ulama" factions within PAS.

He said this was PAS's worst conflict in the party's history and ‎would only benefit the DAP.

"The Anwarinas have responded to the Ulama by setting up the Pertubuhan Ummah Sejahtera Malaysia (PasMa).

"Hadi's stance is not followed, but instead ridiculed. PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu‎ questioned the Shura Council's decision to nominate a PAS assemblyman as the MB candidate.

"This is the ‎worst split in PAS's history, and credit should go to Anwar for the success. DAP has become the component which has most benefited and is most satisfied," wrote Awang.

The Malaysian Insider reported on Wednesday‎ that some of PAS's members had set up PasMa on August 31 as part of an internal campaign to ensure PAS remained with Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

The movement was initiated after Hadi told a central committee meeting on August 25 that he wished to cooperate with Umno to form the Selangor government.

But talk is now rife among PAS members that PasMa‎ may replace the Islamist party in PR after leaders appeared poised to leave PAS over a disagreement on how the top leadership has handled the Selangor MB impasse.

On Friday, Hadi had signed a letter addressed to the Sultan of Selangor nominating two PKR assemblymen and one PAS state representative for the MB position.

The nominations were apparently done without the knowledge of the PAS central committee, which had decided on August 17 that the party would not stake a claim on the post.

But Hadi has defended his move, saying that he had used his discretion accorded to him by the party's constitution to submit the three names to the palace.

He also told PAS members in Terengganu that Dr Wan Azizah was not qualified for the position as she did not have the ability to debate questions in Parliament or the state legislative assembly.

"I salute the PAS president, Hadi Awang, and the ulama for not bowing down to PKR and DAP," wrote Awang today.

"Even though he has received heavy opposition from the Anwarinas or the Anwariuun, ‎the majority of the grassroots are still with him."

Awang added that Hadi's open rejection of Dr Wan Azizah's candidacy, as well as his call for unhappy PAS leaders ‎to leave the party, was "just the beginning".

"Anwar would be mistaken to underestimate Hadi. We shall see," he wrote.

- TMI