KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 23 ― DAP endorsed PKR deputy president Azmin Ali as the new mentri besar and instructed its state lawmakers to pledge their support to the him, in a move last night.
DAP secretary general Lim Guan Eng said that Azmin's appointment is in accordance with DAP's position that the candidate for Selangor's top post must be from PKR ― which had also extended its overwhelming support to Azmin.
“In view that Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Ismail commanded majority support from 30 out of 56 Selangor assemblymen, her decision to now back Azmin would also be consistent with DAP's firm and principled position that the Selangor mentri besar must command majority support from the state assembly,” said Lim in press conference after chairing an emergency central executive (CEC) committee meeting in it's headquarters here.
PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Dr Wan Azizah and Azmin had met the DAP's leadership prior to the endorsement.
“For these reasons the DAP CEC has decided to instruct our 15 DAP assemblymen to support Azmin as the new Selangor MB,” he said.
“DAP hopes that the resolution of the Selangor political crisis and appointment of Azmin as the new mentri besar can fulfill the promise of a better Selangor that can provide justice, freedom and economic prosperity for all,” he added.
The Selangor palace had named Azmin as Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim replacement yesterday, snubbing an earlier decision by PKR and DAP to nominate Dr Wan Azizah for the post, although the PKR president had previously secured from 30 state lawmakers in the 56-seat Selangor assembly.
In the letter signed off by the Sultan's private secretary Datuk Mohamad Munir Bani, Azmin has been instructed to attend the swearing in ceremony at 10am tomorrow at Istana Alam Shah in Klang.
Conceding to the Sultan's decree, Dr Wan Azizah withdrew her own nomination and added, in a statement that she accepts the verdict with an “open heart”.
She also thanked the 29 members of the state assembly from all three parties within the Pakatan Rakyat coalition who had supported her.
PKR’s top leadership committee, however, said that it regrets the way that the Selangor palace treated Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail’s nomination for the Selangor mentri besar job.
“The committee is of the opinion that the process of approving the appointment of the Selangor mentri besar is not in accordance with the spirit of the Selangor constitution and is against the principle of a parliamentary democracy. It also stains the integrity of the institution of parliamentary democracy,” the party’s leadership committee said in a statement.
The process, which did not accord with the spirit of the law, should not be made a precedent, it added.
Still, the committee considered the need to resolve issue of appointment and decided to respect Wan Azizah’s decision to withdraw, it said.
