Friday March 1, 2013

Phahrolrazi leaves his fate to party

ALOR SETAR: Kedah PAS deputy commissioner I Datuk Phahrolrazi Mohd Zawawi is leaving his political fate in the coming general election to the party's central leadership.

“It would be tough fight if I were to contest the Jerlun parliamentary seat, but I leave everything to the party to decide,'' he said yesterday.

He was commenting on The Star report yesterday that Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak had sidelined him and two others in his list of candidates for the general election. Phahrolrazi was said to be the ringleader of the rebel group which tried to topple Azizan.

Phahrolrazi has been moved from the Pengkalan Kundor state seat to the Jerlun parliamentary seat, while assemblymen Dr Ismail Salleh and Dr Hamdan Mohd Khalid, who were seen to be among the rebels, have been dropped as candidates in their respective constituencies of Alor Mengkudu and Tanjung Dawai.

Jerlun is now held by Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir.

Phahrolrazi claimed that Azizan did not have the final say on the candidates' list.

When contacted, Azizan denied the allegations that the list was planned to remove the rebels.

“The candidacy arrangement was merely a matter of strategy. Several names were submitted for each constituency and the potential candidates were evaluated from time to time,” he added.

Megat Dewa PAS member Asri Ahmad, who had led a series of protests against Azizan recently, described the Mentri Besar as an autocrat.

“Azizan is trying to ruin Phahrolrazi's political career. The grassroots have been opposing the name list, but our calls have been ignored,'' he said.

Asri alleged that Azizan had placed his personal interests first by placing his supporters, including his political secretary Muhammad Sanusi Md Noor, in safe seats,

MCA vice-president Datuk Seri Chor Chee Heung said the latest schism in Kedah PAS proved that the state government had failed to meet the people's expectations.

“The rakyat should not give the mandate to a party plagued by endless internal political strife amongst its leaders.

“It would cast doubts on their ability to administer Kedah properly should they come to power,” said Chor, who is also Alor Setar MP.

Meanwhile, about 300 staff and students from Kolej Universiti Insaniah (Kuin) held a demonstration against the university college's management and Azizan.

The group were seen chanting slogans for about 30 minutes despite the rain yesterday.

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Friday March 1, 2013

Phahrolrazi leaves his fate to party