PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim today said that Pakatan Rakyat would seek an audience with Selangor’s Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah to ask for "room for forgiveness" for PAS' Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad.

 

"We take into consideration what the sultan has said. We plead for a space for Khalid to explain himself," Anwar ( below ) told reporters after an event at the Selangor menteri besar's residence today.

 

"We plead for the sultan's blessing and care in this holy month of Ramadan. Khalid is a very able parliamentarian who can be very firm with his views," he said.

 

"If the approach was wrong, we plead for the sultan to give some room for forgiveness," he added.

Sultan Sharafuddin yesterday expressed his unhappiness with Khalid over the latter's remarks made last month.

Khalid, and PAS MPs Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud (Kota Raja), Hanipa Maidin (Sepang) and Che Rosli Che Mat (Hulu Langat) had then urged the state government to curb Selangor Islamic Affairs Council (Mais)' executive powers.

This followed Mais refusal to adhere to the state’s call for them to return the bibles seized by the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais).

Jais is Mais' enforcement arm and they are only answerable to the Selangor sultan.

MP probed for sedition

Meanwhile, police are probing Khalid for sedition following the same remarks .

A police officer today recorded a statement from a Malaysiakini journalist over a news report on Khalid's remarks, made on June 17 during a press conference at the Parliament lobby.

A police report had been lodged against Khalid and the three other PAS MPs who were also at the press conference, on June 18.

The report was by Norman Toha, a former Selangor PAS secretary, who is now the secretary general of Malay rights group Jalur Tiga (Jati).

The report was lodged at the Klang Utara police station, alleging the MPs of having committed sedition with their remarks.

Khalid had said that Mais is an institution that is seen to be close to Sultan Sharafuddin ( right ), and thus should not have executive powers.

 

His comments came at the height of the furore over Mais' refusal to return the holy books seized from the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) in January this year.

Khalid did the talking on behalf of the four MPs, and it remains unclear whether all four of them are being probed or the focus is on Khalid alone.

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