Are there liars in PAS?

Those present during Hadi's audience with the Sultan say the MB issue was not discussed.

COMMENT

PAS has denied that its President, Abdul Hadi Awang, and the Sultan of Selangor discussed the issue of proposing Azmin Ali as the second candidate for the Selangor Menteri Besar’s job.

According to those who were present when Hadi visited the Sultan, there was no royal directive whatsoever regarding the Selangor Menteri Besar issue. They said it was a Hari Raya visit and it was not for any discussion.

“Azmin’s name was not even mentioned,” one of them said.

This somewhat contradicts what Selangor PAS Youth Chief Suhaizan Kaiat said two days ago, when he sought to explain why PAS eventually settled on proposing Wan Azizah Ismail alone for the post just hours after the party leadership decided that her name be submitted along with Azmin’s.

According to Suhaizan, the initial decision to name two candidates was made as a result of the audience Hadi had with the Sultan. In other words, this was what the Sultan wanted.

It’s anyone’s guess why Suhaizan would announce something that those present during the audience say did not happen. However, Suhaizan is known to be on the side of the PAS liberals, a.k.a. the Anwarists.

But it is also possible that this is a psywar effort to prove to Pakatan Rakyat that Azmin has the Sultan’s blessing and is favoured over Wan Azizah.

Anyway, in two days time we shall see how the Selangor political crisis finally ends and whether this nine-month drama ends the way Anwar Ibrahim would like it to.

Apparently, the Sultan is not too pleased with the way the palace has been dragged into what is a power struggle within PKR and he may make this displeasure known when he returns.

Roslan Bistamam is a FMT columnist