Selangor MB crisis is also an opportunity
KnockKnock: Without the Kajang Move, PKR deputy president Azmin Ali will not be in the MB’s seat today. PKR still wins in a ‘Plan B’ strategy. So the winner is still PKR and the efforts initiated by the architects proven a “success”.Fairnsquare: The writer, Ram Anand, seems to have decided that the ‘Kajang Move’ was the cause of the crisis, when it was actually due to a recalcitrant MB who had to be replaced.Selangor was an opportunity to show remarkable leadership qualities therefore the choice of Anwar Ibrahim for MB was obvious.
The strong unseen hands that prevented this, due his timely charges for sodomy, brought earlier, and preventing of PKR president Wan Azizah Wan Ismail from becoming MB, thereby removing any direct influence by Anwar, was not elaborated on by the writer.
The palace was drawn into the equation, with PAS submitting alternatives without anyone’s knowledge, breaking the constitutional convention of a sole candidate with the most influence in the state assembly being made the MB.
Some in PAS have shown that they are easily manipulated, making it a loose link in Pakatan, and without leadership changes PAS is a liability in Pakatan. PKR has become stronger with the weak links now exposed.
A realigned Pakatan with a strong PKR, DAP and moderate PAS, or even without PAS, will be a formidable force in the 14th general election (GE14).
Samurai: It is now fashionable to blame the MB crisis on the Kajang Move, and the rural consumers of the mainstream media garbage will swallow it whole.
But Selangor voters with eyes open have witnessed how it was Khalid who had created the problem at every step, aided by various interested parties like PAS and other invisible hands.
When he was expelled from PKR, he ran to the palace. When he lost his claim of a state majority, he ran to the palace. When he resigned, he still held the post and signed the water deal, which could easily have been carried out by the new MB.
In all instances, a principled individual would have relinquished and handed the post back to the rightful owners, the parties that had won the election, in accordance with the principles of law.
So please, let’s face the truth that Selangor’s ‘best MB’ Khalid was the root of the extended crisis.
Lone_star: All is not doom and gloom. It is time to look forward to a Pakatan without Abdul Hadi Awang’s PAS. Learn from the Selangor MB crisis. There is a need for the Pakatan leadership to be more cohesive and consult more before making any move, especially the Putrajaya move in GE14.
Now that the Selangor crisis is over (i.e. if it really is), it is time to move east to make Pakatan more appealing to the rakyat in Sabah and Sarawak.
Blackknight: It’s not all doom and gloom as Lone_star says. We need to think out of the box ‑ not be reacting to Umno’s game plan all the time. The crisis is also an opportunity; it is time for PKR to challenge Umno for the rural Muslim votes.
Why rely on PAS to take on Umno? As the Pengkalan Kubor by-election has shown, PAS is losing ground to Umno very rapidly.
If PKR can shed its ‘Umno DNA’ members, coupled with a strong showing by Azmin in Selangor’s governance, many Malays would be attracted to PKR. I see many silver linings in Azmin’s ascent, it allows for a passing of the baton from Anwar’s family to a new set of leaders.
However, Anwar’s legacy will always be there and cherished, should PKR form the backbone of a future Pakatan government.
As for Khalid, the writer is very wrong. His is a tainted legacy, Selangorians openly revile him. He has nothing to show for except the RM3 billion accumulated reserves. Anyone could have done that by simply not spending money!
Pakatan‑ku: There is another loser ‑ DAP. DAP has proven to all and sundry that it is behaving like MCA. Lim Guan Eng criticises MCA as being subservient to Umno and now this saga shows it did what Anwar tells them to do.
The DAP value system of CAT ‑ Competent, Accountable Transparent ‑ is merely an election slogan. If DAP believes in its own values, it should tell Anwar to choose the best person for the job and not giving the best job to a crony. Azizah is at best a mediocre opposition leader and would become a weak MB doing the bidding of Anwar.
Whatever is said about Khalid Ibrahim, he left behind a war chest of RM3.4 billion for Pakatan. Khalid’s biggest mistake is he did not “play ball” with his political leaders and did not how to take care of his supporters by giving them contracts. As a voter we can only pray for the best and prepare for the worse.
100% Truly Malaysian: The only winner is Umno. No one is gaining.
SRMan: I am not sure whether the royalty, the Selangor palace, has come out a winner in the saga. Ask this question ‑ have the Selangorians in particular and Malaysians in general increased, maintained or lost respect for the institution?
Multi Racial: I would think it is neutral for BN. It would have been a clear winner for them if Najib as PM and leader of BN had spoken out for the constitution instead of taking advantage of the situation to belittle Pakatan and Anwar.
Noh Omar, the Umno leader of BN for Selangor, is not helping either. His threats and obvious hypocrisy in supporting the ruler will not work with the rakyat this time, especially with more educated and urban voters in Selangor.
If one were to measure the royalty from the angle of getting what he wants, then it could be termed as a winner. But then what the ruler needs is support from the rakyat and going against the will of rakyat is not going to make the royalty any more popular than before.
I believe the royalty missed the opportunity to show their neutrality and respect for constitution. If they had done that, they would have commanded immense respect from the rakyat and would have elevated their status closer to those royalty in Japan and Thailand.
J Ng: Outcomes of the Selangor Fiasco:
1. Legal harassment can upset political opposition’s strategies
2. Uncorrected legal discretionary clauses can upset role of constitutional monarchy in our Parliamentary democracy
3. Political parties that invoke the name of God in political decision can create political instability.
4. PAS is unfit to be a national political party.
5. Rogue MB can hold his political party to ‘ransom’.
Winners ‑ royalty and companies involved in the final dealings. Losers ‑ the public, all political parties, Umno/BN included, and parliamentary democracy.
RZC: I totally disagree that PKR, Anwar and Pakatan are the losers. They are the winners because they have acted with principles and honesty in this entire sorry saga. The Kajang Move was for the people’s interest but it got thwarted by events beyond their control.
They have also won as they have come to know whom their allies and their friends are. They have also won because the people still respect them. They have also won because they can restrategise before the next elections and if they don’t win, it will certainly not be for the lack of integrity, energy, commitment and trying.
I also think it is premature to say that BN is the winner. We will continue to live in hope.
S**thappens: The most obvious loser is still the rakyat of Selangor and Malaysia.
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