DAP is standing by Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail's nomination as Selangor Menteri Besar even as its coalition partner, PAS, continued to dismiss her as unqualified and incapable for the post.
Its secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said the PKR president and Kajang assembly member would be able to succeed with team effort, as she is already proven to be academically superior and politically experienced.
Lim, who is Penang chief minister, said Wan Azizah should be given a chance to perform, in view of her record in excelling in the field of medicine and in leading the PKR since 1999.
"When I first took over as chief minister, I also had no experience," Lim said. "But in the last election (in 2013), under my leadership, we won by a bigger mandate than in 2008."
He said although he did not have much experience, he had a team that showed that the Pakatan Rakyat government could deliver.
"So I think it is basically a team effort," he said today, when asked to comment on PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang's assertion that Dr Wan Azizah was neither capable nor qualified to be menteri besar.
Lim said Dr Wan Azizah was the first Malaysian to be awarded a gold medal in obstetrics and gynaecology before graduating as an ophthalmologist at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
"In terms of intelligence she is far superior to many of us," he said.
Noting her qualification as a specialist in a medical field, he said: "I am sure she is also equally qualified for other positions. I don't see why she is qualified to be an ophthalmologist but not qualified for other posts."
He added that the DAP supported her also because of her leadership of PKR since 1999 when she became party president of the party (then called KeAdilan) after her husband, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who has been the de facto head of the party, was imprisoned.
Lim was speaking to reporters after officiating at a charity event at the Silver Jubilee Home for the Aged in Penang.
Hadi had told a dialogue session for PAS members in Terengganu on Friday that he was not keen for Wan Azizah to be menteri besar, not because she is a woman, but because she was neither qualified nor capable.
He said a leader of a state had to fulfil many criteria, including the ability to answer in legislative houses like the Parliament and the state assembly.
Asked about a PAS faction called Parti Ummah Sejahtera Malaysia (PasMa) and its aim of ensuring that PAS stayed within Pakatan Rakyat, Lim said this was an internal issue for PAS.
"I think it is not appropriate for me to make any comment, to avoid us being construed as interfering in the internal affairs of PAS," he said, adding that PAS was facing an upcoming assembly amidst turbulence within its ranks.
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