KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 18 — PKR leaders should stop airing their dirty linen in public, PAS MP Khalid Samad cautioned the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) ally party amid a brewing conflict between PKR’s Azmin Ali and Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim.

The PAS central committee member stressed, however, that the internal strife in PKR in the run-up to the party elections in April did not affect the Selangor PR administration.

“It would have been better if it had not been externalised,” Khalid Samad told The Malay Mail Online today.

“But policies that have been decided by the state government still haven’t diverted from their original objectives. The only dispute is on personalities,” said the Shah Alam MP.

Azmin had reportedly received a letter from the Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS) on January 10, informing him that his tenure on the board of the state government firm would not be renewed.

Khalid Ibrahim said last Wednesday that it was the PKNS general manager, Othman Omar, who had terminated the PKR deputy president’s position on the board, and not the Selangor state executive council.

But PKNS refuted Khalid Ibrahim’s claim the following day and said that the Selangor state executive council had decided on Azmin’s removal last year.

Opposition Leader and PKR de facto chief Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim then intervened and told a news conference that Azmin was still a PKNS board member.

Khalid Ibrahim said in response that he would “consider” reinstating Azmin’s position, but noted that an immediate restoration is prohibited by the PKNS Enactment.

Commenting, DAP vice chairman Teresa Kok told The Malay Mail Online: “I hope this issue can be resolved and die down because there are other more important things to do”.

PKR vice-president N. Surendran dismissed the dispute between Azmin and Khalid Ibrahim as a “common” occurrence in politics around the world.

“Whatever the differences, we will work it out amicably. Both men are important to our struggle and committed to reform,” Surendran told The Malay Mail Online.

“It will not affect Selangor voters; voters are more interested in the state’s performance, which has been far better and cleaner than under BN (Barisan Nasional),” added the Padang Serai MP.