I never thought of resigning, says Khalid

SHAH ALAM: Khalid Ibrahim said the thought of quitting as Selangor menteri besar had never crossed his mind.

This, he said, was despite rumours there was a group in PKR wanting to oust him.

"I never thought of it," he told reporters after opening the 17th Selangor Malaysian Indian Youth Council annual general meeting here today.

He was commenting on the existence of a group comprising 15 PKR MPs who wants him to step down as menteri besar, a post which he has been holding since March 2008.

Meanwhile, PKR vice-president R Sivarasa said there was no proof of the group's existence, describing it as merely media speculation.

"Sometimes, in an organisation, we have our differences and these differences will be discussed and resolved through existing channels in the party, like the retreat and the party's supreme council meeting scheduled tomorrow," he said.

In SHAH ALAM, the PKR retreat today did not discuss the call by the group of 15 MPs from the party who wanted Khalid to relinquish his post.

Instead, PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said the meeting merely discussed issues on the party's preparation to face the next general election and the election of the party's supreme council members in November.

"I don't know anything and there was no discussion on the matter," she told reporters when met outside the meeting hall, here.

'There's no group of 15'

Meanwhile, several PKR MPs denied the alleged existence of the group of 15.

Teluk Kemang MP Kamarul Baharin Abbas said he did not know of any development on the issue and questioned the existence of such a group.

the Pact of 15.

"Why 15, why not 20 or 29? They are just numbers as claimed by someone," he said.

Asked on the allegation that he was the leader of the pact, Kamarul Baharin said: "In the party, I head the MPs and State Assemblymen Secretariat. If you are referring to that, then it's correct.

"The question raised in the media was not discussed specifically. There's no petition, no memorandum. If there is, certainly I would know."

However, he did not rule out the possibility that it might be discussed if it were raised at the party leadership council meeting tomorrow.

Gombak MP Azmin Ali said he had never asked Khalid to resign.

"We criticise, we did not ask Khalid to be removed. We never said that Khalid must be removed. There is no group of 15 MPs. What we have is only the Pakatan Rakyat," he said.

However, a small group of PKR MPs were not happy with the problem of bureaucracy in Khalid's administration and the delivery system was still weak, he said at the two-day PKR retreat.

- Bernama