Azmin defends Selangor MB, praises him as man of conviction

PKR deputy president Azmin Ali (pic) has cleared the air over the alleged removal of Selangor Menteri Besar (MB) Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim in light of recent criticism on how the state managed its financial resources.

Azmin said there is no reason to rid Khalid. Instead, he praised the MB as a "man of conviction" and "incorruptible", and who has shown commitment to Pakatan Rakyat's cause in Selangor.

"I don't know why this issue is being raised again. There are no attempts to remove him as MB. This is something new to me," he said when asked by reporters at the Parliament lobby.

Azmin, who is also the Selangor PKR chief, has had an uneasy relationship with Khalid over the years.

Umno's mouthpiece, Utusan Malaysia, in its weekend column noted there were rumours that Azmin was set to replace Khalid.

Azmin said he had long meetings with the MB over a recent memorandum sent by Pakatan Rakyat backbenchers in the state assembly requesting Khalid's administration to allocate more funds for development in the state.

"We are not a pressure group, we just want to help improve state administration," he said and explained that there were more expectations from the people since Selangor had a stronger mandate from the electorate in the last general election.

"We don't want to be complacent with our performance because this is our second term so we need to implement our programmes which we promised the people in the last election," he added.

Yesterday, Khalid had brushed off rumours that his long-time "rival" Azmin was set to replace him as Selangor Menteri Besar.

"It's okay... I am actually happy that people criticise. We should allow criticism because we can learn and do better from there.

"This is the nature of politics as everybody aspires to a better position,” Khalid had said and added it was part and parcel of politics.

Khalid has recently come under fire over his leadership, including from PKR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who openly criticised the MB.

Anwar had said that despite Selangor’s surplus funds, they were not channelled to help the needy, to the extent that some party members had labelled Khalid "stingy".