Well, this certainly puts embattled Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim in a bind: the remaining four executive councillors in his state cabinet, all PAS members, have announced that they would resign if Khalid chooses to replace the PKR and DAP excos he fired yesterday with councillors from UMNO.
The four PAS excos are all that’s left of Khalid’s cabinet, and are the minimum number of excos he is required to have in order to have the authority to administer the Selangor government.
“If Umno is in, PAS excos will be out. We won’t accept,” PAS exco Sallehen Mukhyi told The Malay Mail Online when met at the state secretariat in Shah Alam.
Despite calls from fired PKR exco Elizabeth Wong to abstain in solidarity with other PR members, all four PAS councillors were present at the weekly exco meeting with Khalid today.
Yesterday evening, Khalid announced that he had sent termination letters to the six PKR and DAP exco members in his cabinet, on the grounds that they were planning to not support and cooperate with his administration.
The six terminated excos shot back saying their sacking was illegal, and vowed to carry on their official duties as usual.
Khalid was expelled from PKR on Saturday for defying the party’s official endorsement of president Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as his replacement for the Menteri Besar post and for refusing to step down.
On Monday, Khalid received the consent of Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah to continue in his capacity as Menteri Besar for the immediate future, as long as he can command majority support from the Selangor state assembly.
PAS, the only holdout partner in the PR coalition on the Menteri Besar issue, asked de facto PR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to put forth an alternate candidate for MB, other than Anwar’s wife Wan Azizah. PAS’s top leaders are scheduled to meet on August 17 to decide on the party’s official stand on who it endorses for the post.
See Also:
Uh, surprise?: PKR nominates Wan Azizah for Selangor MB post
Despite Wan Azizah endorsement, Khalid Ibrahim isn’t budging from Selangor MB post
Who does PAS support for Selangor MB? We won’t know until August 13 … no, make that August 17
Sultan of Selangor consents to Khalid Ibrahim continuing as Menteri Besar
Selangor palace doesn’t want to meet PKR to talk about MB Khalid’s expulsion
PKR-PAS discussions on Selangor MB hits dead end
MB Khalid fires all PKR and DAP Excos; Pakatan Rakyat loses control of Selangor
Six fired Selangor excos say sacking was illegal, are going to work as usual
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