WHAT A DISGRACE: Even BN leaders tell Pas ulama not to reject Azizah because she's a woman

KUALA LUMPUR - PAS’s Ulama wing is wrong to reject Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail’s bid to be Selangor mentri besar due to her gender, according Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders who said the consideration should be based on her merits or lack thereof.

Minister Nancy Shukri disagreed with the PAS Ulama’s wing’s assertion yesterday, saying it is “politically incorrect” to specify Dr Wan Azizah’s gender as the reason to deny her the MB post “especially when she has the necessary qualification to lead”.

“Gender should not be an excuse for not placing her as MB. It is indeed a very prejudiced remark. Even in Islam, if one is capable, regardless of the gender, she can also lead,” the Batang Sadong MP wrote in a text message to Malay Mail Online when contacted yesterday.

“Women are as capable as men had they been given the opportunity to hold such (a) position,” she said.

Nancy suggested the actual and “main” political reason for the rejection of Dr Wan Azizah was not her gender, but the perceived control her husband Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim — also the PKR de facto leader — may hold over her.

“What creates suspicion is the way Dr Wan Azizah allowed [herself to be] ‘used’ by her husband caused some dissatisfaction among some people” she said.

She cited how Dr Wan Azizah resigned as the MP for Permatang Pauh, which she won and held since 1999 after Anwar’s imprisonment, in 2008 to spark a by-election and pave the way for him to re-enter politics.

The de facto law minister said Dr Wan Azizah also went along with the so-called “Kajang Move” initiated by PKR to remove Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim as Selangor MB.

“It appeared as though Dr Wan Azizah was not acting on the wishes of majority of the party members,” the Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) leader said.

MCA Wanita chief Datuk Heng Seai Kie said the PAS Ulama wing has the right to interpret their Islamic teachings and her party respects Islam, but said: “A person should not be denied an administrative position like the mentri besar, president or prime minister just because of the gender factor.”

“It should be based on their capability, their commitment, their experience — for which I also don’t think Wan Azizah is suitable based on her past record,” the former deputy women minister told Malay Mail Online yesterday in a phone conversation.

While disagreeing that Dr Wan Azizah was capable of leading Selangor, Heng stressed that this was not due to her gender.

Heng instead pointed to Dr Wan Azizah’s history that allegedly shows the PKR leader could eventually end up as a “political puppet” if she becomes the next administrative head of the country’s wealthiest state.

Umno MP Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said similarly rejected with PAS’s use of gender to stymie Dr Wan Azizah’s bid, but said the latter’s relationship to Anwar made her unfit for the MB position.

“I think gender should not be an issue, but what she brings with her as a potential MB,” the Umno supreme council member told Malay Mail Online when contacted yesterday.

“There are so many other leaders who can be offered as MB, why must it be her?” said Azalina, saying that Dr Wan Azizah’s nomination suggested that no one else in PKR is capable of taking on the mentri besar role.

“I think that’s an insult to the party,” the Pengerang MP added.

Yesterday, Malay Mail Online reported that the PAS Ulama wing’s written speech had listed three reasons to back party president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s decision not to nominate Dr Wan Azizah as Selangor mentri besar.

The three reasons justified by Islamic teachings include Dr Wan Azizah’s gender, which would affect her ability to rule, as well as Islam’s barring of the betrayal of the public’s mandate and wastage of resources after Kajang assemblyman Lee Chin Cheh’s abrupt resignation in January led to the election of Dr Wan Azizah to replace him. -Malay Mail