KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 21 — PAS denied today that there is a split among its members in Kedah over the mentri besar’s post, with its secretary-general saying that the national leadership is not aware of any problems.
This comes amid reports that 11 out of 15 PAS divisions in the state demanded yesterday that Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak step down from the mentri besar’s post.
“What exactly is the problem (in Kedah)? ... The newspapers published (the issue) but I’ve never heard of it,” Datuk Mustafa Ali(picture) told reporters here.
The PAS secretary-general claimed that he only heard about the alleged rift between the Kedah divisions and Azizan from reading the newspapers.
He also refused to comment on the possible candidate to lead Kedah should Azizan lose support from the grassroots.
“Azizan still has the support, up until now,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang insisted that the decision whether Azizan will continue to contest in Kedah will only be made on nomination day.
“We’re confident that the people will continue to support us, especially if the media acts fair,” said Abdul Hadi.
Reports in several dailies today said that the Kedah PAS divisions claimed that Azizan had failed to run the state effectively, demanding that he also step down as state PAS commissioner.
PAS also denied that its syura council had nixed several names from the Islamist party’s candidates list, describing the reports as “inaccurate”.
“I’ve checked with Zawawi, he claimed he didn’t say it that way,” Mustafa clarified, referring to syura council secretary Datuk Nik Muhamad Zawawi Nik Salleh.
Sinar Harian reported yesterday that the council had vetoed several candidates proposed for Election 2013 by the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) party’s leadership over concerns they may defect once elected.
The independent Malay-language daily quoted Nik Muhamad Zawawi as saying that the candidates were dropped mainly because they might jump ship after being elected as lawmakers, following a string of defections after the 2008 general election that caused Perak to fall to Barisan Nasional (BN).
According to Mustafa, Nik Muhamad Zawawi only mentioned the characteristics required of PAS candidates, including their ability to uphold the party’s image and struggle whether they win or lose the polls.
“Usually, even if (they reject candidates), it’s only one or two names. But so far there is no name rejected by them,” Mustafa said.
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