PAS waiting for central decision on Perak, but says mandate is to defend PN

 

Perak PAS says it is still waiting for a decision from the party's central leadership on the formation of the next state government.

State party chief Razman Zakaria, however, said the mandate they have now is to defend Perikatan Nasional.

Speaking to reporters in Ipoh today, Razman initially said that the decision from the leadership is to support the government they had built together.

"The central leadership's decision is that we must support the government we built together. Previously we built a muafakat (cooperation) between PAS, Bersatu and Umno.

"And we have met the sultan (Nazrin Shah) and His Majesty said we should accept any candidate (for menteri besar) that was chosen.

"So we have agreed to defend the government, we will defend the PN government which we agreed on together," he said.

Yesterday, PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan said the party had decided not to join in efforts to form the new state government.

This is after Umno teamed up with the state opposition to remove Bersatu's Ahmad Faizal Azumu as Perak menteri besar during a vote of confidence.

Asked about the directive announced by Takiyuddin, Razman said that he could not interpret that message.

"I can't interpret that on my own. The fact is that is my own view, that the orders from central are that we are still in PN, and if there is a (new) coalition, God knows, we'll discuss that in the future.

"For now the mandate we were given is to defend the current government, and that government has fallen.

"The forming of a new government, we leave it to the central leadership," he said.

He added later that they are waiting for instructions as this involves national politics.

PAS is a member of PN, which is headed by Bersatu - while Umno said it only supports PN.

However, PAS is also allied with Umno in Muafakat Nasional.

Asked about PAS' relationship with Umno, Razman said it is still as usual.

He added that PAS is upholding its stance that it won't be with Bersatu without Umno and won't be with Umno without Bersatu. - Mkini