Tuesday May 7, 2013

GE13: Pakatan at loggerheads over MB post

SHAH ALAM: A day after Pakatan Rakyat retained Selangor with a bigger majority, two factions are locked in a tussle over who should be mentri besar.

Incumbent Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim (pic, left) is said to be facing a challenge from PKR deputy president Azmin Ali (pic, right), who has never denied his interest in the post.

While mentris besar in other states have been sworn in, Khalid is still awaiting the decision of the Pakatan leadership on who should be the chief executive of the state.

The situation is complicated by PKR having the least number of seats among the Pakatan partners. It has 14 while PAS and DAP have 15 each.

“The decision (on who would be mentri besar) would be made by the Pakatan top leaders within a week,” he said when asked whether he would serve a second term as MB.

Khalid added that the Sultan of Selangor must also give his consent. Azmin has been constantly speculated to succeed Khalid.

Khalid said Pakatan would be hosting a thanksgiving dinner to celebrate its win in Selangor on Thursday night at Dataran Kemerdekaan Shah Alam.

Azmin, meanwhile, said he would leave it to the Pakatan leadership council to decide on who should be mentri besar.

Azmin, who is also Selangor PKR chief, said: “This will be discussed in the Pakatan leadership meeting in the next few days.

“For now, I don't want to jump to conclusions.”

He added that the question of who would be Opposition Leader would also be put on the table when the council meets.

For more election stories, please visit The Star's GE13 site

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