PAS will leave Pakatan when time is right, says Youth leader

PAS Youth vice-chief Mohd Khairil Nizam Khiruddin said the Islamist party did not rule out leaving the Pakatan Rakyat coalition when the time was right.

However, he said, he did not envisage this happening in the near future.

"Our patience has a limit and I am confident and believe that when the time comes for us to leave Pakatan Rakyat, we will leave.

"History has shown that those who normally leave the coalition is not PAS, but our allies," he was quoted as saying by Sinar Harian today, while referring to the defunct Barisan Alternative, which ended when the DAP pulled out of it in 2001.

However, Khairil said PAS should be patient with the stubbornness displayed by its allies in Pakatan Rakyat, the paper reported.

"In my opinion, the stubbornness comes from our partners. But since we are a party which has been around for a long time, we should be patient.

"Our principle is that when the time comes, if we should leave, we will leave.

"But now is not the time. We will remain loyal to Pakatan Rakyat. Umno should be wary of us once we are in Putrajaya."

The menteri besar saga was recently resolved in Selangor following the appointment of Mohamed Azmin Ali as the new state leader.

He replaced Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim as the MB of Malaysia's wealthiest state.

However, the move to replace Khalid created a rift between PAS and its allies, PKR and DAP.

PKR and DAP had previously insisted on only naming PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as the sole candidate to replace Khalid.

However, PAS defied its allies with party president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang claiming that Dr Wan Azizah was an unsuitable candidate and pointed to her lack of debating skills in the state assembly.

He said Islam had set certain standards and qualifications in appointing a leader and Dr Wan Azizah did not meet any of them.

"There are many conditions for a person to be a leader, including having the capability and ability to lead.

"But Dr Wan Azizah does not possess any of these qualities from the beginning. If she cannot even articulate properly in the state legislative, how can she lead the state?"

PKR leaders have been calling on Hadi to retract his statement and apologise to Dr Wan Azizah.

PKR Youth chief Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said Hadi must apologise to Wan Azizah for the insulting statement.

"Hadi's apology is important for Pakatan Rakyat to continue moving forward."

PKR Wanita head Zuraida Kamaruddin also urged Hadi to apologise to Wan Azizah, saying it was a baseless allegation. – September 25, 2014.