Umno rubbishes talk of Azmin replacing Khalid as Pakatan gimmick
Umno has dismissed reports that PKR deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali will be made the new Selangor Menteri Besar as nothing more than a political gimmick by the opposition.
Selangor Umno liaison chief Datuk Seri Noh Omar said there was nothing new to the issue of Pakatan Rakyat's plan to push Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim out of his menteri besar seat.
"It has been a long standing matter for Pakatan. Let's just see whether they will be able to execute the plan or not.
"As we all know, when it comes to the opposition, they are more talk than action," he told The Malaysian Insider when contacted.
Astro Awani today reported that PAS and DAP have agreed to appoint Azmin, the Bukit Antarbangsa assemblyman, as MB after a closed-door meeting last night.
The report, however, said the final decision is with PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Quoting a source, the report said it was highly likely that PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail's name would be dropped from the list after PAS was not keen of having a woman to helm the state.
"PAS did not agree with the idea of a woman MB, they prefer Azmin. DAP too have no problem with Azmin but will wait for Anwar's decision.
"However, there will be more lengthy discussions during the upcoming Pakatan Presidential Council meeting before Hari Raya.
"The appoinment will most likely be made after the Hari Raya celebration as previously mentioned," the source said.
In his response, Noh (pic, left) said the news that Azmin would be made MB was not surprising, adding that Pakatan had made a fuss about it for some time.
He said he was more worried that the political gimmick could affect Selangor's economy and development.
"We will see... since their Kajang Move was over a long time ago.
"They just like to do this kind of gimmicks. Politicking without thinking about the people's welfare. Whoever can become MB if Pakatan continues to play dirty politics with one another... but mind you, the state will suffer," he said.
Last night, PAS secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali, who is on Pakatan's Supreme Council secretariat, said a meeting would be held soon with the MB issue on its agenda.
Anwar had on Saturday said talks about the MB post should be discussed internally and not done in haste.
He praised Khalid in his management of the state's finances, but admitted that the issue should not be prolonged as it would effect Pakatan's image.
Anwar said there was also several non-governmental organisations pushing for the party to prove itself different from the previous Barisan Nasional administration.
"This is because people have high expectation of Pakatan and many, especially the NGOs, are not happy with what is happening.
"They want us to perform better than BN," he said. – July 15, 2014.
