Selangor PAS deputy commissioner III Khalid Samad has challenged sacked chief Hasan Ali to take up a standing offer by renown publisher KarangKraf to debate with him.

NONE "I have been informed that KarangKraf had asked Hasan (left) to debate with me since February but that he had rejected it based on the excuse that (his NGO) Jati's syura council is not agreeable to it,” he told a press conference at the lobby of the Selangor legislative assembly building this afternoon.

"I would like to say I'm willing to debate with him. I would even postpone my programmes to debate with him."

At the same press conference, Selangor PAS commissioner Dr Abdul Rani Osman had blasted Hasan for organising and publicising a debate purportedly featuring himself and Abdul Rani even though there was no agreement for such a debate.

NONE "His (Hasan's) people sent an invitation for a debate on Wednesday even though they had been informed that I was unavailable that day. They did not seek an agreement.

This, Rani (right) claimed, was an attempt to use the names of PAS leaders as a "crowd puller" for Hasan's ceramahs, at which attendance has been declining.

"My schedule is filled up to September... Who is he? If he wants to debate he should provide at least a month's notice. We will send our representative," he said.

‘Most suitable candidate'

Adding to this, Khalid said he is the most suitable candidate to take on Hasan, who had previously described Khalid as the "biggest parasite" in PAS.

PAS, he said, will not attend Hasan's self-organised debate on Wednesday. The party is only prepared to enter into a debate on mutual terms coordinated by KarangKraf.

"Do it professionally. Find a neutral place and a neutral moderator. Now he is choosing a location and moderator that is biased towards him. That is unfair," said Khalid.

azlan On another matter, Khalid said the PAS Himpunan Hijau in Selangor will be held at the Kuala Selangor stadium on July 15 from 3pm to midnight.

The highlight will be a ceramah featuring PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu, during which least five former top government officials are expected to announce their admission to PAS.

"We are targeting a turnout of 20,000 to 30,000 people. The timing may be a problem, since this will be near the fasting month and it is a Sunday, but our supporters will not be deterred," he added.