Former Selangor PAS deputy commissioner Khalid Samad said the claim that PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang sought a unity government in Selangor last year is true.
“What Husam said the other night is true, and is not something new,” the Shah Alam MP said in a recording of a Parti Amanah Negara ceramah on Nov 6, uploaded onto Youtube.
Khalid Samad, who is now Amanah central committee member, said plans to form a Umno-PAS unity government in Selangor started in 2008, when he was Selangor PAS deputy commissioner.
He said that PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, then Selangor PAS commissioner Hasan Ali and then PAS deputy president Nasharuddin Mat Isa had planned to meet then Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and ex-Selangor menteri besar Mohd Khir Toyo to discuss a unity government.
The bid was thwarted after the plan was leaked and central committee members opposing it ambushed the president at the party headquarters, he said at the event in Dungun.
“We went in a group to meet Ustad Hadi at the PAS headquarters at Jalan Raja Laut. We asked him directly and he admitted that he was going to meet Pak Lah. We disagreed to it,” he said.
Eventually, he said, the meeting with Abdullah and Khir was attended by Khalid Samad, then PAS secretary-general Mustafa Ali and Nasharuddin, “and we rejected the plan (for a unity government)”.
It is believed that Khalid Samad was referring to the period immediately after the 12 th general election, which saw BN lose majority seats in five states including Selangor and Perak.
He alleged that the same plans were underway in Perak, where like in Selangor, PAS held the least seats compared to DAP and PKR.
PAS, PKR and DAP formed governments in Perak and Selangor, but the Perak government was toppled in 2009 due to defections by PKR and DAP assemblypersons to BN.
Former PAS vice president Husam Musa last week revealed that Hadi planned to form a PAS-Umno unity government in Selangor after PKR and DAP withdrew support for Selangor MB Khalid Ibrahim last year.
Khalid Ibrahim held power for a fortnight on the back of support from PAS and Umno quarters of the state legislative assembly, after PKR and DAP withdrew support following his sacking from PKR.
Plan to 'steal' Azmin
Confirming Husam's claims, Khalid Samad said PKR deputy president Azmin Ali was offered the job as MB of the proposed unity government.
This happened after two PAS assemblypersons withdrew support from Khalid, prompting the sultan to summon Khalid to the palace, he said.
“The offer was made to Azmin and we (PAS central committee members) didn’t know. Who told us? Azmin did.
“Azmin was shocked and told (Kuala Krai MP) Dr Hatta (Ramli) and Hatta brought the matter to the PAS central committee meeting.
“He said, 'Yes, it’s true.' He said, ‘They stole two of our people, so why can’t we steal their man?’ This happened. He made the offer, and he never discussed it with us,” Khalid Samad said.
The Amanah MP did not specify who he meant, but it is believed that was was referring to Hadi.
“(Like) the meeting with Pak Lah and Khir Toyo, we didn’t know. It was leaked so we confronted them and they admitted to it.
“We cannot hope for them to say ‘Yes we want to cooperate with Umno’. He never shares what he wants to do,” he said.
He said this was among the reasons why he and a group of PAS leaders left PAS to form Amanah.
The departure was not due to their defeat in the PAS polls, he said.
Responding to Husam, PAS said the former Kelantan state exco was sabotaging the party because he was bitter over party polls defeat and not appointed Kelantan MB.
Despite widespread speculation, Husam did not join Amanah and remained in PAS.
Azmin said he does not know anything about unity government plans.
Azmin suceeded Khalid Ibrahim as MB after but remained loyal to Pakatan Rakyat.
Pakatan Rakyat broke down this year after a dispute between DAP and PAS over the hudud. PKR, DAP and Amanah later formed Pakatan Harapan.
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