Kedah PAS has defended the state’s Menteri Besar Azizan Abdul Razak against calls for him to step down for backing the use of the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA).

NONEState PAS deputy commissioner I Phahrolrazi Zawawi (right) said all parties should give Azizan an opportunity and trust him to carry out his responsibilities.

"For me, it’s inappropriate for other parties to interfere and if they want to criticise (Azizan), they should use the proper channels in Pakatan Rakyat to express their views because it is not right to do it in the media

"There has to be mutual respect because everyone has their responsibilities to perform," he told Berita Harian today.

Azizan had defended the use of UUCA by the state-owned Kolej Universiti Insaniah (Kuin) against five of its students for protesting, justifying that the law was still in force.

He had said that Pakatan’s Buku Jingga pledge to abolish the UUCA "is not the Quran" and does not need to be complied with in its entirety.

Constitutional expert and former UIA professor Abdul Aziz Bari had earlier launched a scathing attack on Azizan, calling on him to join BN instead.

The five students were suspended in June last year under Act 555 and Act 174, laws similar to the UUCA but tailored for private higher learning institutions, after they protested the takeover of a building which houses their hostel and prayer room, to be converted into a school.


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