KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6— Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang finally broke his silence over PAS’s rejection of Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as the next Selangor mentri besar, saying she is “unqualified” for reasons other than her sex.
The PAS president said the main criteria for an MB was ability and confidence to lead — qualities he claimed the PKR president did not possess.
“If from the very beginning she does not have the ability to answer questions in Parliament, questions in the state assembly, to have a dialogue with our foes in the state assembly, how to be a leader?
“If these conditions cannot be met, you cannot lead, it is not a question or whether you are a woman or a man,” Hadi said at an event in Marang, Terengganu.
“That is why we rejected this candidate in Selangor because she is unqualified from the start....not able to handle the administration of the Selangor government...this needs someone strong, that is the real reason, not be because she is a woman,” he added.
Hadi had submitted his own list of nominees for the MB post to the Selangor palace, containing only PAS candidates — state executive councillors Iskandar Abdul Samad, Dr Yunus Hairi and Sallehen Mukhyi — and this was done without the knowledge of other PAS leaders within the central committee, according to sources familiar with the matter.
When the rest of PAS found out about Hadi’s nomination, PAS secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali scrambled to send in a second letter to the palace, this time containing two nominees from PKR — Dr Idris Ahmad and Yaakob Sapari and PAS’ Iskandar.
PAS broke ranks with its Pakatan Rakyat allies by excluding the coalition’s agreed-upon nominee, Dr Wan Azizah.
Yesterday, PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu said he was unaware that the party had submitted its own candidate to be considered for the Selangor mentri besar post.
The PAS deputy president also said he was unaware of reports stating that the party had not submitted Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and Azmin Ali’s name as its MB candidates after all.
Other news reports, Mohamad said, quoted Mustafa as confirming that a PAS state executive councillor had been nominated as a candidate.
Mohamad did not deny the validity of the two reports, but said that this latest information was not conveyed to the PAS central working committee.
“We, the PAS central working committee, do not know of this new name because it was not decided in the PAS working committee meeting which handles the daily affairs and strategies of the party,” the PAS leader had said.
The DAP and PKR have been steadfast in their decision to nominate only PKR president Dr Wan Azizah for the post, despite a royal order from the Selangor sultan asking the three PR parties to nominate more than two names each.
