Suara Keadilan: PAS stray dogs dilemma caught between mullahs and the Erdogan group

PAS had sent in a list to the Sultan of Selangor with three names – all from PAS, leaving both PKR president Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and deputy president Azmin Ali out.

The list, it was reliably learnt, was handed over to the palace by an aide of PAS president Datuk Seri Hadi Awang.

PAS secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali confirmed that the president had on Wednesday submitted three names for the Selangor Sultan to replace Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, who has been sacked by PKR.

Mustafa said he was informed the name list from PAS had two names from PKR (Wan Azizah and Azmin) and one from PAS. However, he admitted he did not see the letter.

“I did not see the letter. I was told the president had included two names from PKR and one from PAS,” he said.

Mustafa said Hadi inserted the third name at the 11th hour, as a mark of respect to the Sultan who requested more than two names.

However, sources said the names of the three candidates submitted by Hadi were all from PAS. One claimed the names were of exco members – Iskandar Abdul Samad, Sallehin Mukhyi and Ahmad Yunus.

Mustafa steered clear of the claim adding: “We did not shorlist only the excos. All PAS assemblymen in Selangor are eligible for the post, except Hulu Kelang and Morib assemblymen (Saari Sungib and Hasnul Baharuddin).”

Hadi had struck out the two for breaching party discipline by abiding with PKR’s order to sign statutory declarations endorsing Wan Azizah as the sole candidate for the job. Some PAS leaders have expressed dissatisfaction with PKR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for forcing them to endorse his wife as the sole candidate.

“We do not know what game Anwar is trying to play. Anwar shouldn’t have defied convention by forcing the Sultan to accept his wife as the sole candidate for the job,” said a party leader who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The PAS central committee had on Aug 17 endorsed the nomination of Wan Azizah and Azmin to replace Khalid. However, the palace had requested PKR, DAP and PAS to submit more than two names after Khalid tendered his resignation last month.

The Sultan also put Khalid’s resignation on hold until a suitable candidate has been appointed. It was reported that the palace was not keen to appoint a “remote-controlled” Mentri Besar. Singapore-born Wan Azizah’s candidature is also under scrutiny, as Article 53(3) of the Selangor Constitution disqualifies naturalised citizens for the Mentri Besar post.

It is high time that PAS take time to present a legitimate rebuttal to the thesis that PAS can only be governed by its mullahs. Erdogan group ´s dilemma is that mullah shave controlled the political power and restricted the rule of democracy PAS gave sweeping powers to the mullahs, who are regressive has still not changed, and no elected politicians dare to change them even though several years have passed. PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu said today he is unaware that the party had submitted its own candidate to be considered for the Selangor mentri besar post.

The PAS deputy president also said he was clueless about the reports stating that the party had not submitted Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and Azmin Ali’s name as its MB candidates after all. PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu said today he is unaware that the party had submitted its own candidate to be considered for the Selangor mentri besar post.

“I want to state that what was mentioned by PAS secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali last night as reported by many media, that Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah and Azmin Ali’s name is not on the PAS candidate list…I have no knowledge of this,” he said in a statement today.

Other news reports, Mohamad said, quoted Mustafa as confirming that a PAS state executive councillor had been nominated as an MB candidate.

Mohamad did not refute the validity of the two reports, but said that this latest information was not conveyed to the PAS central working committee.

“We, the PAS central working committee, do not know of this new name because it was not decided in the PAS working committee meeting which handles the daily affairs and strategies of the party,” the PAS leader added.

Mohamad said that as far as he was concerned, PAS still stood by its latest August 25 decision to let the Selangor Sultan choose either one of the party’s nominees — Dr Wan Azizah or Azmin as MB.

PKR Youth chief Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad yesterday demanded PAS come clean on its confusing statements over the names it submitted to the Selangor palace for consideration as the next mentri besar, saying the people in the state deserve to know the truth.

The Seri Setia assemblyman noted the Islamist party’s secretary-general, Mustafa, has been issuing statements at odds with not only the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) consensus reached last month, but also conflicting with his previous remarks.

Nik Nazmi questioned too whether Mustafa’s recent admission of an earlier letter, in which three PAS leaders were nominated, exists.

Nik Nazmi’s statement comes in the wake of a new twist to the political drama over who will be picked to replace Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim as mentri besar of Malaysia’s most-developed state.

The DAP and PKR have been steadfast in their decision to nominate only PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah for the post, despite a royal order from the Selangor sultan asking the three PR parties to nominate more than two names each.

But PAS, in defiance of a PR presidential council decision on August 17, sent in three names yesterday.

Mustafa told PAS-controlled paper, Harakah Daily today that the party had sent three names to the Selangor palace for consideration.

He refused to disclose the names, only saying that one was from PAS while the other two were from PKR.

However, news portal Malaysiakini cited anonymous sources saying that PAS had offered the names of its own representatives and none from PKR, sending the whole plot deeper into the shadows.