Khalid Samad admits mistake of divulging loyalty oath

2009/11/10

Shah Alam member of parliament Khalid Abdul Samad today admitted his mistake of making a statement on bai'ah or oath of loyalty requiring PAS elected representatives to divorce their wives if they jump party, which has caused uneasiness in PAS.

He regretted divulging the existence of such an oath of loyalty but declined to withdraw his statement.

"With that, I regard the issue closed. I admit my mistake in exposing the bai'ah as it was between me and Allah.

"I should not have done that. I should just have kept quiet about it," he told reporters at the parliament lobby.

Last Friday, press reports quoted Khalid as saying that all PAS elected representatives, whether MPs or state assemblymen, must take bai'ah or divorce their wives with talak tiga (which makes reconciliation impossible unless she marries another man and is then divorced by him) if they jump party.

He had said that it was an oath as proof of their loyalty to the party. - Bernama