KUALA LUMPUR: Changkat Jering assemblyman Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin who won the seat on a PAS ticket will remain as the Perak opposition leader, said state DAP chairman Nga Kor Ming, despite both parties ending their alliance.

Nga said Mohammad Nizar, who was the Perak menteri besar after Pakatan Rakyat won the state in 2008, had the support of all 18 DAP state assemblymen.

“[Mohammad] Nizar will remain as opposition leader although Pakatan no longer exists in the state. Apart from the DAP representatives, I believe [Mohammad] Nizar also commands the support of five other PKR assemblymen,” he told The Malaysian Insider.

Another five representatives, including Nizar, are from PAS and collectively form part of the 28-member opposition bench in the house.

Nga, who is the Kepayang assemblyman, was asked whether DAP would withdraw support for  Mohammad Nizar to remain as state opposition leader, since DAP and PAS were no longer in political cooperation.

This followed a motion to cut ties with DAP, which was approved without debate at PAS’s annual general assembly earlier this month.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng had also announced his party’s decision declaring Pakatan was dead, as the secular party and its Islamist counterpart are no longer on working terms.

Nga said although Pakatan no longer existed, Mohammad Nizar could hold the position because he was a member of the state assembly by virtue of being the elected representative of Changkat Jering.

“[Mohammad] Nizar’s position is determined by elected assemblymen, and the DAP which makes the majority among the opposition, supports him to remain there,” he added.

Mohammad Nizar has been state opposition leader since May 2009.

Nga, who is also Taiping member of parliament, said the state DAP had a cordial relationship with the new Perak PAS leadership under Rosman Zakaria.

“We are not enemies of PAS or its leaders. For example, we will go to their Hari Raya open house if invited.

“However, we have [an] excellent working relationship with all PAS assemblymen in carrying out duties as elected representatives in the house,” he added.

Mohammad Nizar failed to retain his post in the PAS central committee along with the group of “progressives” led by former deputy president Mohammad Sabu, who were ousted in the contest for key positions.

Mohammad Nizar was defeated as Kampar PAS division chief, a post he held for 14 years, to religious teacher Mohd Sofian Rejab. — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on June 23, 2015.