The Malaysian Insider – 1 hour 36 minutes agoRELATED CONTENT
- PKR endorses Azmin Ali as Selangor MB
DAP has accepted PKR deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali as the new Selangor menteri besar following the endorsement by PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who withdrew her candidacy for the post last night.
The move comes after Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail accepted the Sultan of Selangor's decision to appoint her number two to the post.
PKR and DAP had initially insisted that the Kajang assemblyman was the only candidate suitable to helm the state.
DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said his party's central executive committee (CEC) supported Dr Wan Azizah's proposal to the PKR leadership to recommend Azmin as the new MB in line with its clear and consistent position that the state's top post must be someone from PKR.
"In view that Dr Wan Azizah commanded majority support from the 29 assemblymen, her decision now to back Azmin would also be consistent with DAP's firm and principled position that the Selangor menteri besar must command majority support from the assembly," he said in reference to the endorsement given to Dr Wan Azizah by the assemblymen last month.
"For these reasons, the DAP CEC has decided to instruct our 15 DAP assemblymen to support Azmin as the new Selangor MB," he said after an emergency central executive committee meeting last night.
Azmin, who is the Bukit Antarabangsa assemblyman, will take his oath of office before the Sultan of Selangor at Istana Alam Shah, Klang, at 10.30am today.
He will be the 15th Selangor MB.
Dr Wan Azizah had earlier congratulated and thanked the 29 assemblymen who had supported her and enabled Pakatan Rakyat to remain as the state government.
"I appreciate their cooperation in putting the interests of the people's mandate over their personal interests," she had said in a statement.
"In that spirit, I have made the decision to withdraw as a Selangor MB candidate."
Lim expressed hope that with Azmin's appointment, the saga would come to an end and that he could administer the state better by providing justice, freedom and economic prosperity for all.
However, Lim could not resist taking a swipe at ally PAS, expressing his regret at the conduct of the four PAS excos for their "betrayal of principles of solidarity and democracy" as well as "failing to stand loyally" with the six DAP and PKR excos sacked by former MB Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim on August 12 after he had lost support of the 56-seat assembly.
Over the last few weeks, PKR had repeatedly said it was sticking to its stand of nominating only Dr Wan Azizah for the MB post, despite reprimands from the Selangor palace over its decision to submit only one name.
DAP and PKR had submitted only Dr Wan Azizah's name for the post, although DAP was open to the idea of Azmin replacing Khalid.
PAS, however, broke ranks with its partners when its president, Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, submitted three names to the palace.
The three are said to be Dr Idris Ahmad (PKR-Ijok), Dr Yakub Sapari (PKR-Kota Anggerik) and Iskandar Samad, the Selangor PAS commissioner, who is also a state exco member and Cempaka assemblyman.
It is not known if PKR and DAP submitted more names following the sultan’s reprimand, who had asked each Pakatan Rakyat (PR) party to submit more than two names.
Last week, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah reportedly interviewed and shortlisted three candidates for the job.
Apart from Azmin, he had also interviewed Iskandar and Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi, despite the Islamist party stating it would not stake a claim for the MB post. – September 23, 2014.
