Show your faces, exco dares 'plotting' MPs

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 16:03

By Teoh El Sen

PETALING JAYA: The PKR MPs involved in an alleged plot to topple Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim should reveal their identities, said state exco Elizabeth Wong.

Daring them to “show their faces”, the Bukit Lanjan state assemblywoman said they should not be making press statements requesting anonymity.

The PKR leader also said there is nothing wrong with harbouring grouses towards Khalid.

“That's fair enough since nobody is perfect. They should speak up and not hide. No one can steer away from criticism and whatever needs to be corrected should be corrected. That is a more productive way of doing things," she told FMT.

The exco was reponding to reports that a group of 15 MPs aligned to PKR vice-president Azmin Ali have hatched a campaign to oust Khalid, whom they feel is not a team player and under-performing.

Azmin, who is said to be eyeing the menteri besar post, has denied masterminding the conspiracy.

Meanwhile, Wong said she does not believe that there is a campaign to push for the menteri besar to resign.

Furthermore, she added, the problems concerning Selangor is not one of the main agendas for this weekend's party retreat, where a major reshuffle is expected.

"I think both the party president (Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail) and de facto leader Anwar (Ibrahim) have made it clear that there will be no change (in the state's top echelon),” she said.

'Uncalled for' criticism

Wong said it will be interesting to see how these alleged conspirators respond to questions from members during the retreat.

"I can predict that we are just going to look at each other and no one will dare come out to say what has come out in the press,” she added.

Wong also labelled the criticism over Khalid's move to appoint Faekah Husin as his new political secretary without consulting party leaders as “uncalled for”.

"A political secretary is like a private secretary, it is a personal decision. It has to be someone the MB can work with and trust to make decisions,” she said.

Khalid's former secretary Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad is tipped to be appointed as PKR's new communications director.

DAP exco: MB is liked by all

Meanwhile, Selangor exco Ronnie Liu also rejected the conspiracy theory.

"Perhaps there are one or two (MPs) who are not happy with Khalid, that's all. Khalid is performing and doing very well. So there is no basis to topple him," said the DAP leader.

According to Liu, Khalid is well liked by the people and his exco members have a good working relationship with him.

"He is also a workaholic and practises a very transparent and accountable style of management,” he said, adding that Azmin also has close working ties with the MB.

Exco Yaakob Sapari, on the other hand, said Khalid should be allowed to complete his term

“Let him finish his term and then go back to elections and let the people decide. Let us do our job until our term finishes,” he added.

State excos Ean Yong Hian Wah and Dr Xavier Jayakumar refused to comment on the matter.

Ean, who is also Selangor DAP chief, termed it as PKR's internal issue. “They should resolve it within the party. At the exco level, we work as a team."