KUALA LUMPUR: A Pas senior member has apparently broken ranks by supporting calls for the party’s executive councillors (excos) to quit the Selangor government and refrain from seeking protection through palace politics.
Pokok Sena Member of Parliament Datuk Mahfuz Omar said since it was Pas which ended its 'tahaluf siyasi' (political cooperation) with PKR, the Islamic party must exclude itself from the state government.
He was responding to Pas deputy president Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, who said that the three Pas excos in the PKR-led government will only resign if it received approval by the Sultan of Selangor.
“In this current situation, the Pas excos should resign immediately on their own the moment the Syura Council cut ties with PKR.
“The resignation is important to show that Selangor Pas and the Central Pas Committee are taking the same stance as the Muktamar and Syura Council.
“It is inappropriate for Tuan Ibrahim and Pas to drag in the royal institution and seeking palace politics protection for the sake of defending the Pas excos’ position in Selangor,” he said in a statement today.
Last Thursday, Pas officially ended its 18 years of cooperation with PKR when the Syura Council decided that the move was necessary to defend the party’s Islamic agenda.
The Syura Council accused PKR of breaking many terms of its conditional cooperation with Pas, citing their failure to support it in its Islamic agenda, and working against it in two by-elections last year.
The council however did not make any decision regarding the three excos, saying that Pas central committee will discuss the matter, despite calls by many quarters for them to resign since they no longer have ties with PKR.
Mahfuz further criticised Tuan Ibrahim, saying that as a senior leader, the latter should know better that the appointment of an exco was made through recommendations by either the state Menteri Besar or the prime minister although the Sultan gave his approval.
He added that neither Tuan Ibrahim nor Pas should repeat old “script” regarding the Kelantan state government exco issue in 1996 where Pas’ ally then, the now-defunct Semangat 46, refused to resign after they cut ties with the Islamic party.
“Tuan Ibrahim should realise and feel embarrassed with Umno who was led by (former premier) Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad at the time, where he firmly asked all of the excos (who jumped ship to Umno) to immediately resign.
“Therefore it’s inappropriate for Pas to put the burden on (Selangor MB) Datuk Seri Azmin Ali’s shoulders because it wasn’t him or PKR who ended the cooperation.
“Don’t let the rakyat see Pas as a “political cartoon” that has no proper direction,” he added.