PKR: Khalid not being replaced by Azmin

Khalid's office also denied that he had resigned from his post.

UPDATED

PETALING JAYA: PKR denied today reports that it had decided to replace Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim with his rival, Azmin Ali, the party’s Selangor chairman.

Party secretary-general, Saifuddin Nasution said, the call by ‘three or four’ PKR leaders to sack Khalid during the supreme council (MPP) meeting on Jan 15, had not gained traction among their peers.

“From about the 50 or so members of the MPP, several took the extreme and firm stance that Khalid should be sacked. It was just an opinion, not a proposal nor a motion.

“Nor did the ones objecting to Khalid mention that they wanted Azmin to replace him as the menteri besar,” Saifuddin told a press conference at the PKR headquarters here today.

He also pointed out that PKR was in no position to unilaterally decide to have Khalid replaced, given that it did not hold the majority seats in the Selangor state assembly.

PKR has 14 seats, DAP holds 15 and PAS another 15 in the state assembly.

‘You cannot satisfy everyone’
Yesterday, Sin Chew Daily reported that the Supreme Council wished to replace Khalid with Azmin, and that it was now up to PKR’s allies in Pakatan, DAP and PAS, whether Khalid would keep his post.

Saifuddin said that this was the first time such ‘extreme’ views on Khalid were aired during the MPP meeting, but stressed that the party accepted any opinions in the name of democracy.

“Views such as those are lumrah (normal). You cannot satisfy everyone, and whether you like it or not, you accept the views,” said Saifuddin.

According to him, Khalid had not been present at the meeting, which was chaired by Azmin.

Saifuddin said matters discussed were the business licensing fee in Selangor, the restructuring of Selangor’s water assets, the status of the Langat 2 water treatment plant project, and the raise in allowances for the state’s assemblymen and executive council.

When asked on the Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS) fiasco, Saifuddin reiterated that the MPP had decided Azmin should be reinstated as a member of the corporation’s board of directors.

Meanwhile Khalid’s office also denied that he had resigned from his post. He is today attending a briefing with all state reps in Pulau Carey.