POWER STRUGGLE: State Umno leader dismisses Rafizi’s denial of PKR leadership rift
KUALA LUMPUR: SELANGOR Umno has rubbished a claim by Parti Keadilan Rakyat strategic director Rafizi Ramli that his resignation as chief executive officer of Selangor Economic Adviser's office was not due to a rift in the party leadership.
State opposition leader Datuk Satim Diman said Rafizi's resignation was definitely caused by a power struggle between two camps in Selangor PKR.
"The crack has become so obvious in the wake of a squabble between Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim and PKR deputy president Azmin Ali.
"Of course they would not want to admit they have problems with each other, but their spat has become so public that there is no denying that there's a rift which led to Rafizi's resignation," he said when contacted.
Rafizi had yesterday said his resignation had nothing to do with any PKR leadership problem in Selangor.
"I first made my intention to resign from the Selangor administration in October last year.
"As the date of the next general election was not clear then, I was asked by party leaders to postpone my intention."
He also denied he had a fallout with Khalid, his political secretary Faekah Husin and Azmin, stressing that his resignation was "normal".
Last Thursday, Rafizi via his Twitter account, announced that he would quit his post in the Selangor government which he had held for two years, citing his wish to concentrate on party work.
His sudden resignation had created a stir in cyberspace, with some blaming it on the squabble between Khalid and Azmin.
Various quarters had claimed that Rafizi, whom they claimed was aligned to Azmin's camp, was forced to quit the post by Khalid's faction with Faekah as the one who orchestrated the move.
Meanwhile, a new issue has cropped up which highlighted the rift within the Selangor PKR leadership.
Khalid has now been put under scrutiny for allegedly defending Faekah for going against a state government circular which prohibits those in office from issuing support letters to any parties seeking work contracts, supplies, and services of the state government.
The circular, dated Aug 16, 2010, and issued by former State Secretary Datuk Ramli Mahmud, was drawn up following a directive from the state exco meeting on July 28, 2010.
A source said the circular was issued followed an issue involving a support letter by exco member Ronnie Liu in the bidding process of state contracts worth RM700,000.
A blog had last week alleged that Faekah had written a letter of support for her relative's law firm to be in a state government-linked company's legal panel, using the menteri besar's letterhead.
This had prompted Selangor PKR information chief Shuhaimi Shafie to call for her suspension.
However on Sunday Khalid had defended Faekah and said "as for now, the status quo remains that there is no offence".
Khalid, who said he, too, had written such letters, said the issue would nonetheless be investigated.
When contacted, Selangor Barisan Nasional coordinator Datuk Seri Mohd Zin Mohamed, criticised Khalid over his flip-flop.
"How can Khalid practise double standard here? He was firm in Ronnie Liu's case but says okay in Faekah's case?
"Khalid is clearly contradicting his own directive. What kind of ruling is this?"
Faekah Husin, the political secretary of the menteri besar, has ignited a controversy after allegedly writing a letter of support for her relative’s law firm
PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli denies his resignation as CEO of Selangor Economic Adviser’s office was due to a rift in the party leadership
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