Ahead of PAS central leadership meeting on Aug 17 to decide on the issue of the Selangor Menteri Besar, the party has been urged to hold on the Pakatan Rakyat coalition, formed since 2008.

 

PAS central committee member Mujahid Yusof Rawa said despite the weaknesses in Pakatan, the coalition should not split just because of one man.

 

That man in question is Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim, who despite being sacked from PKR, remains in his post after the Selangor sultan granted him permission to do so yesterday.

 

Khalid claims he has the support of the majority of the state legislative assembly, which PKR and DAP contest.

 

"The spirit and idealism of Pakatan is too good to abandon just because of one person," Mujahid, who is also Parit Buntar MP and PAS national unity bureau chief, told Malaysiakini .

 

"Changing an MB is a natural process. There may be more of such cases or challenges in the future. In fact, the party does not need a reason to remove Khalid ( left ). It is within the party's power to do it.

 

"Who is Khalid? Why is he so special? We have seen Menteri Besar come and go. It should not be treated as something special or surprising," he stressed.

 

Fallen out

Khalid, who is in his second term as MB, has fallen out with his party leaders and the DAP. They have agreed to replace him with PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

 

Khalid has however found support in PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang and the party's spiritual leader and former Kelantan Menteri Besar, Nik Aziz Nik Mat.

 

But PAS central committee leaders are only meeting on Aug 17 to decide on the Selangor crisis, where they are expected to agree to remove Khalid, but would prefer his replacement to be someone other than Azizah, who is wife to PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.

 

Yesterday, Deputy Chief Minister and Umno deputy chief Muhyiddin Yassin ( right ) said the party was solidly behind Khalid, complicating the situation further for PKR.

 

Mujahid requested the three Pakatan parties to quickly meet and issue a joint statement to clarify the situation, as the Selangor crisis affects the whole nation, not just the state.

 

He urged party leaders not leave the people confused and questioning, but let them know clearly what the parties are doing to solve the problem.

 

Mujahid does not deny that Pakatan has weaknesses in terms of inter-party organisation, including its structure. 

 

"We are three parties that want to make it big but may not be able to do so due to these problems," Mujahid said.

 

"Still, in light of what had just happened in Selangor, the positive thing is Pakatan's ideal of effecting change remains, so I urge party leaders to remain focused on this and on bigger picture.

 

"This is advice from a foot soldier, who like many, do not want to see Pakatan forego its principles and continue to put the people's interest first," he stressed.

 

As for Umno, Mujahid said it’s their dream come true to see Pakatan in a state of crisis.

 

However, his advice to Umno is "You may want to exploit the Selangor MB issue for whatever reason, but please do not do it at the cost of the people."