Khalid rebuffs calls to step down, says it is normal in politics

Embattled Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim today insisted he will not step down despite the clamour from within the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition for his resignation.

Such incidences, he said, were normal occurrences in the political arena.

"I have to handle many sensitive issues. Hence, I am constantly seen as making solutions which are neither comfortable nor acceptable.

"However, all of the decisions which I have made are according to the existing rules and regulations in place.

"Unhappiness is bound to occur especially in cases involving sensitive issues. So, I am definitely not doing it for fun or personal gain," Khalid said in response to criticism from PAS of his administration in Selangor.

Khalid stressed that everything that he had done was according to the law.

Selangor PAS elections director Jaafar Sulaiman said Khalid would be facing additional problems in his leadership of the state.

This was because PAS, which had been supportive of Khalid, was now united with DAP and PKR against him.

Jaafar said the loss of support from PAS in Selangor was due to Khalid's frequent independent decision-making in Malaysia's richest state.

Jaafar's comments were also supported by his predecessor, Dr Rani Othman, who said Khalid needed to change his leadership style and listen to the opinions of other Pakatan leaders.

Khalid said unlike the corporate sector, it was difficult to ensure that his political position was always guaranteed,

"What I do know is that my political position is not that secure when compared with the corporate sector.

"However, I consider this to be a challenge and a responsibility for me to carry out."

He also spoke about the controversial Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex), saying there were so many assumptions made even before the project had been fully approved.

He said the highway authority has yet to send its proposal on Kidex to the state government.

"The residents can always hold discussions once the Malaysian Highway Board has looked through the Kidex proposal.

"As long as the state government has not received any decision from the Malaysian Highway Board, the local council will not be asked to create awareness about Kidex."

He assured the public that as soon as the Selangor state government received the working paper on Kidex, it would be passed to the local council for public distribution. – June 21, 2014.