'Pakatan made a promise'

Khalid Samad cuts a forlorn figure within Selangor PAS, having been on the receiving end of brickbats over his recent run-ins with state party chief and Selangor exco Hasan Ali.

He has, however, won the admiration of Pakatan Rakyat partners for not just daring to criticise, but for taking on the sacred cow that the Islamic state policy has become.

The first term Shah Alam MP said in an interview that the adverse comments will not stop him from setting the record straight with Hasan, even if it carries the risk of disciplinary action.

Khalid is driven by the electoral pledges made by Pakatan in last year’s general election, which brought the opposition coalition unprecedented gains, including victory in Selangor.

“(Pakatan) is acceptable to all who want to see a more just and more responsible and transparent government. Pakatan and its component parties [... ] have to live up to their end of the bargain or agreement,” he explained.

“(Pakatan) has not hindered us in bringing about change among Muslims. (The other component parties) have not tried to stifle Islamic consciousness, and (Pakatan) has not attempted to block any development or policy that is of benefit to the Malay s or Muslims.”

Given this, Hasan’s comments on two key issues - an inquiry by Selangor’s Select Committee on Competence, Accountability and Transparency ( Selcat ), and the sale of beer in Muslim-dominated areas of the state - were ill-judged in his view.

Khalid, 52, said it would have been fair if the criticism had come from any of the PAS elected representatives in the state - Dr Abdul Rani Osman (Meru), Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi (Sijangkang) or Dr Shafie Abu Bakar (Bangi). All three are backbenchers in the state legislative assembly.

“(But) if you criticise from (an exco) position, it is not fair and not right. It gives a bad impression and (presents the) image that PAS cannot be a team player. That is my stand.”

He clarified, however, that he did not call for Hasan’s resignation over the differences of opinion, as reported in the mainstream media.

“What I said was (that) Hasan (should) be a team player and if he cannot, then (he should) resign from the exco.

“(His) statement caught us all by surprise and was damaging to the PAS image. We have to be more responsible and be more of a team player.”

He said he had relayed his disagreement to Hasan at a PAS liaison committee meeting, but had no comment as to the latter’s response.

Beer issue

In the case of the move to curb the sale of beer, Khalid said the issue could have been handled better for a win-win situation.

He said Hasan should not have related the problem and attributed it to Ronnie Liu’s portfolio.

“There is no need to relate it to Ronnie as it gives an incorrect perception that he (Ronnie) was responsible to curb attempts to the sale of alcohol.

“Ronnie felt the Shah Alam city council had no right to confiscate the alcohol beverages from his perspective and we (PAS) at the same time do not want to give an impression that we are going the “Taliban way”.”

“We must improve better teamwork and take all parties views into consideration and strategise in such manner for a win-win situation,” he said.

Explaining further, Khalid said it was made an issue by certain people especially from Umno and BN, who are playing the racial and religious card.

The background of the matter was that some residential areas had requested sundry shops and convenience stores to stop selling beer and alcoholic beverages in Muslim predominated areas.

This issue was brought to the Shah Alam council meeting where it felt there was a need to respond to the request.

Khalid said the local council then informed the traders via letters that there was this requests by the people and wanted them to stop and abide by it.

He said after a fourth reminder letter had been sent to the traders and they failed to respond, the council reacted by seizing the beverages as they felt they had the right.

“However, there are still arguments whether this was the correct way or should we (the local council) set up new conditions when the traders wanted to renew their license. The local council can study to put down the condition where residents request for it,” said the Shah Alam MP.

“Presently more than half of the convenience store (7-Eleven) has removed alcoholic beverages,” he said.

Khalid said rather than relying solely on enforcement, local councils can also engage with an anti-alcoholism campaign, which would create a win-win situation.

He noted that not only the Muslims were up in arms against the sale of alcoholic beverages by convenience stores, as there are also non-Muslims who also agree the sales should be control.

“Here I feel that Pakatan is not a problem in the PAS agenda. We need a more rational and right approach and not depend on the theocratic approach,” he said.

“We need to try and create a social consensus through discussion, and towards influencing and educating people towards Islam and towards the good.”

Tomorrow: What makes Khalid tick