SHAH ALAM, April 16 — Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim today denied that he was playing “safe” in a controversial bible seizure case to avoid upsetting his chances at the coming PKR elections.

When asked if his government’s current stand on the seized bibles was a bid to not turn off Malay support in the upcoming PKR polls, Khalid disagreed.

“No. What I do (in) this work has nothing to do with the election. If I don’t do it correctly, there will be (people who) get angry and don’t support. So I will do it in an orderly manner,” Khalid told reporters at the sidelines of the state assembly here.

Khalid’s administration has chose not to order the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) to return over 300 copies of bibles to the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM), saying that BSM and the state government needed to get the Attorney-General (AG)’s nod first.

Today, Khalid also disagreed that the criticisms directed at him over the seized bibles were linked to the PKR party polls, saying: “No. I think we have maturity in this”.

“This bible issue is already very old, before there is election or no election, it was already discussed,” he said of the January raid and bible seizure.

Khalid was initially in a five-corner fight for the PKR deputy president post.

But after Chua Tian Chang pulled out of the race last Thursday, Khalid will now be facing off incumbent Azmin Ali, outgoing PKR secretary-general Datuk Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, Hulu Selangor branch member Datuk K. Ramachandram and former Puchong branch chief S Murali.

Polling will follow at each PKR branch from April 25 to May 11. The full results will be announced on May 13.

Earlier today, Pakatan Rakyat leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said Khalid should have taken a tougher stance and intervened in the bible seizure row to ensure a fairer outcome for both Muslims and Christians in Selangor. 

 The PKR advisor said the Khalid administration could have returned the over 300 Malay-language and Iban-language bibles confiscated by Jais in January to the BSM with the condition that they were not distributed to Muslims.

In a statement today, DAP Puchong MP Gobind Singh claimed that Khalid had “displayed a total lack of interest and political will” in solving the three-month-old impasse, suggesting that it led to the BSM’s decision yesterday to abandon the state to seek better protection of religious freedom.

Yesterday BSM announced its decision to relocate its headquarters from Selangor to Kuala Lumpur, citing its disappointment with the state government’s decision not to intervene in the seizure of its bibles.

 BSM president Lee Min Choon said the federal government has given “better protection” to the society’s operations, and has even upheld the Cabinet’s 10-point solution to the “Allah” row by allowing free movement of its bible shipments.