No reason for PAS exco members in Selangor govt to quit
(The Star) – PAS representatives in the Selangor government need not resign from their posts if the party decides to cut ties with PKR, said newly-elected youth chief Muhammad Khalil Abdul Hadi (pic).
He said this is because state executive council members are appointed to serve the people and not just their respective political parties.
“The state executive council members must be allowed to continue doing their jobs for the people, and not just their party. If PAS representatives in the Selangor government are working for the people as entrusted by the party, there is no reason for them to quit,” he told reporters at the conclusion of the PAS Youth muktamar on Friday.
The Islamist party’s youth wing had earlier followed the Ulama wing in unanimously passing a motion to sever political cooperation with PKR, its only remaining ally in the Opposition.
PKR secretary-general Datuk Saifuddin Nasution had responded by calling on PAS representatives in the Selangor government to relinquish all their posts once the decision to sever ties is finalised.
Asked if this would make PAS susceptible to facing three-way contests in the next general election, Muhamad Khalil said PAS would look to forging other political ties as its approach to tahaluf siyasi (political cooperation) was flexible.
“Our spirit of cooperation is flexible, and not something that is static. We will revise it from time to time. What is important is that PAS attaches conditions to any political cooperation it enters. The main condition is that the cooperation must benefit Islam,” he said.
Muhammad Khalil – the son of PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang – added that there would be several announcements in the near future on the inclusion of some new parties into the pact.
PAS is currently in an informal opposition pact called Gagasan Sejahtera with Parti Ikatan Bangsa Malaysia (Ikatan) and Berjasa, which it formed in August last year after its exit from Pakatan Rakyat.