KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6 — PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang has said that he has the discretion to unilaterally decide on the party’s nominated candidates for the next Selangor Mentri Besar.
Defending his bypassing of the PAS central committee by submitting his own list of candidates to the Selangor Sultan, Abdul Hadi pointed out that the palace had issued a letter to the presidents of the three Pakatan Rakyat (PR) parties to ask for names.
“The letter was addressed to the party chiefs, not addressed to the committee members. Means that party chiefs have the right to sign the letter. Others other than the party chief cannot sign this letter,” he was quoted saying in a transcript of his statements.
The transcript of his remarks yesterday in Marang, Terengganu was made available to Malay Mail Online.
Abdul Hadi said the PAS constitution grants him discretion to decide on behalf of the party, with other leaders within the party required to back his decision.
“The PAS Constitution says the president has his right to decide in a few matters relating to the party and party members, Deputy, Vice (presidents), have to uphold the decision made by the president,” the Marang MP said.
Abdul Hadi said it is customary for PAS to pick candidates for state Mentri Besar posts without going through its central leadership, adding that this has been the practice for decades.
He cited Terengganu and Kelantan as examples where the PAS president and a few top leaders had quickly arrived at a decision on the Mentri Besar office.
“This was given to the main leaders to decide because we have to realise (that it) requires (decision in a) short time,” he said.
PAS had briefly governed Terengganu in 1959 and from 1999 to 2004. PAS now governs Kelantan since snatching the state from Umno in 1990.
The PAS central leadership decided twice in August to nominate both PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and her deputy president Azmin Ali to replace Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim for the Selangor MB post.
But Abdul Hadi submitted this week 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 Abdul 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.
Earlier today, Malay Mail Online reported that Abdul Hadi’s move to unilaterally make decisions, such as in the MB nominee list, is expected to be discussed at the Islamist party’s annual conference later this month.
