Selangor does not belong to any party, reminds PAS rep

May 28: A Selangor state assemblyman from PAS has voiced concern over a speculative report that PKR wants to appoint a 'political liaison officer' under the state government.

Chempaka state representative Iskandar Abdul Samad in his reaction reminded that the Selangor state government did not belong to any component party in Pakatan Rakyat, which currently has a combined 44-seat strength in the state assembly.

"Selangor is unique because apart from it being a 'PAS state', it is also a 'DAP state' and a 'PKR' state," Iskandar, who was among the Exco members in the previous term, wrote on his blog.

"No one party can claim that this is 'their state' because each party in the state assembly has almost equal number of seats.

"It is the ideal 'Pakatan Rakyat' state," he stressed.

Earlier, Malay daily Sinar Harian cited an anonymous source who said the state government could see a 'reshuffle' to allow PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, who is the member of parliament for Machang in Kelantan, to join the administration as a "political liaison officer".

The paper further added that Saifuddin would be given the task of mobilising PR's machinery in rural areas to face BN at the next polls.

Iskandar (right), who is head of PAS's Pandan branch, suggested that as an equal partner in Selangor government, the Islamic party could respond to any such move by also placing one of its vice presidents to oversee Selangor affairs, and called on party leadership to give more attention to Selangor as it had to the northern and east-coast states.

The move by PKR, if true, follows several recent controversies involving the party since the May 5 polls, which saw PAS and DAP securing 15 seats respectively and 14 seats for PKR. Despite that, PKR's Abdul Khalid Ibrahim was agreed by PAS and DAP for the MB's post, sparking an initial fury among some PKR leaders who had wanted Bukit Antarabangsa state assemblyman Azmin Ali for the post.

Last weekend, during PKR's 9th congress in Petaling Jaya, the party's Selangor information chief Shuhaimi Shafiei raised eyebrows when he proposed that party members be appointed to head state-owned companies and local councils.

The suggestion was immediately dismissed by de-facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, who said the party "should not be seen or perceived to be involved in the direct management of the civil service or business of the state."