WHILE his party colleagues are bashing Pakatan Harapan parties and leaders in the ongoing PAS muktamar in Kota Sarang Semut, Kedah, one PAS elected rep is nursing a fever at home in Penang.

Permatang Pasir assemblyman Mohd Salleh Man, the Islamist party’s only candidate to have won a seat in Penang, is removed from all the action and tension.

“I am not a delegate. I am not in the (state) leadership. I am also staying home because I have a fever,” said the politician, who was once Penang PAS commissioner.

Salleh laughed when told he was missing the action as PAS delegates at the assembly attack PH parties and leaders, including the Penang government of which he is part.

He offered no comment on the matter, merely saying that doing his job as a rep was more important.

“To me, what’s important is serving my constituents. So far, I have had no problems. I had been working as usual in Penang,” he said.

Salleh’s seat is in the Permatang Pauh parliamentary constituency is synonymous with PKR and its de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, who is in jail serving a sodomy sentence and incumbent MP PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

Salleh first won the Permatang Pasir seat in the 2009 by-election to replace the late Mohd Hamdan Abdul Rahman of PAS, who held the state seat for three terms until he died. Salleh defended the seat in the last elections.

When PAS severed ties with DAP in 2015, causing the collapse of the old Pakatan Rakyat coalition, Salleh – who is non-confrontational by nature – found himself in an awkward position. 

In November 2015, the PAS Permatang Pauh division announced it had cut ties with Salleh because the assemblyman had openly voiced support for PH, the new coalition made up of DAP, PKR and PAS splinter party Amanah.

He was also challenged by Penang Barisan Nasional reps to quit PAS if he supported the state government.

Despite being attacked, Salleh stood by his decision to work with the DAP-led administration while refusing to quit PAS.

The current scenario of PAS on the verge of ending its cooperation with PKR is not changing anything for him.

“My concern remains to serve the electorate until the end of the term.

“I have always been able to work well with the state government. I meet the chief minister (Lim Guan Eng) regularly at events. We just met yesterday,” he said.

Asked if he expected to be fielded to defend his seat, a PAS stronghold, in the 14^th general election, he said: “This is my second term already. Let’s wait and see.”

Earlier today, Lim told reporters that he has no doubts of Salleh’s loyalty to the Penang state administration.

Lim, who is also DAP secretary-general, said Salleh had always given his “undivided support”.

“We don’t doubt his loyalty. He has never done anything to make us doubt him. I have not spoken to him about his position, considering that his party has decided not to work with any other opposition party. They are moving towards Umno.

“If the need arises, I will discuss this with Salleh,” Lim said. – April 30, 2017.