Toe the line, rebels told

Kedah PAS rebels told to accept old posts and toe party line

After a marathon meeting that lasted till 3am, PAS rebels have been told to accept the exco posts.

ALOR SETAR: After a marathon fivehour meeting that ended in the wee hours of the morning, Kedah PAS rebels Datuk Phahrolrazi Mohd Zawawi and Dr Ismail Salleh have been ordered by the PAS central committee take back their state executive council seats and toe the party line.

The two had wanted Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak to go on leave for an indefinite period but this was rejected by the committee, which ended their meeting at 3am yesterday.

However, it is learnt that Phahrolrazi continues to be defiant and refused to immediately accept the decision made at the meeting at Mentaloon, near here.

It is understood he wants to first get the views of the Kedah ulama council before accepting the terms, a move that is seen as irrelevant as the state Dewan Ulama cannot override the committee’s decision.

Furthermore, Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak is said to have the backing of the dewan’s central council.

Phahrolrazi also wants to meet PAS spiritual advisor Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat.

“So, we don’t know what game Phahrolrazi is trying to play,” a party insider told The Star.

Meanwhile, PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub said the committee’s decision would be made public within 24 hours.

“We need to iron out the fine details before announcing to the media,” he said.

PAS secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali said a press conference would be held in Kuala Lumpur today.

“We have already got the solution. The matter is resolved,” he said.

The meeting was held to resolve a crisis that started from alleged attempts by Phahrolrazi to get Azizan to step down as mentri besar, purportedly for health reasons.

Ahead of the meeting proper, Salahuddin had chaired a briefing session that started at 9.30pm and ended past midnight.

Party president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang then took over the chair for the central committee meeting.

Feedback from the meeting suggested that Azizan appeared to have survived the attempted mutiny against his leadership.

The crisis came to light after Phahrolrazi and Dr Ismail sent letters to Azizan on Feb 20, stating they did not wish to be re-appointed as state executive councillors after their term expires this week.

The two men were absent during the swearing-in of the new state exco line-up on Feb 28.

Phahrolrazi, who is Kuala Kedah PAS division chief, then told his division deputy, Anak Bukit assemblyman Amiruddin Hamzah, to either resign from the state exco or face “isolation” in the division.

When the matter was brought up to the central committee, it ruled that Amiruddin did not have to step down.