The beginning of the end for the Selangor PR government (UPDATED with Chinese Translation)
When we said that Perak was about to fall they responded with denials and pooh-poohed what we said. Now we are saying that Selangor is also about to go into crisis. Are they still going to pooh-pooh this as well?
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
You may have already read the two pieces by The Star and Bernama (below) regarding the Member of Parliament for Kapar, Selangor, S. Manikavasagam. Well, in case you passed this off as just another ‘airing of dirty linen in public’, let me assure you that this is actually the beginning of the end for the Pakatan Rakyat government of Selangor.
Back when the Pakatan Rakyat government of Perak first fell, I had said that Selangor and Kedah are next on the list of states that are going to fall. I was not too worried about Penang and Kelantan but Selangor and Kedah are certainly in the danger zone.
Many whacked me for what they considered as my articles not in favour of the opposition. So I stopped writing about this matter. That does not mean, however, that no news is good news. It just means that I have given up talking about the possible collapse of the Selangor and Kedah state governments.
But I can no longer ignore this matter. This latest issue raised by Mike (Manikavasagam) is the start of bigger things to come. It is a prelude to a new crisis involving Pakatan Rakyat Selangor, in particular PKR, not only in Selangor but in many other states as well.
There is currently a mutiny looming over the horizon. Thus far, half the PKR Members of Parliament have teamed up to give Anwar Ibrahim an ultimatum that either Khalid Ibrahim is removed as the Menteri Besar or else they are going to ‘break ranks’.
Anwar will have to decide whether he wants to continue backing Khalid and risk losing the support of half the PKR Members of Parliament. The ball is at Anwar’s feet.
Anwar himself has expressed his exasperation with Khalid in the meetings he has had with the PKR leaders. He knows that Kahild is bad news and, for certain, is going to be the catalyst for the fall of Selangor. But Anwar is not sure what to do and he is worried that if he removes Khalid and replaces him with a new Menteri Besar then a new crisis will erupt.
What Anwar fails to realise is that Selangor is already in crisis, never mind what he does, or does not do.
Sure, if Anwar removes Khalid then a crisis may erupt. But then, if he does not remove Khalid, there is no ‘may’ about it. A crisis will for sure erupt.
Anwar knows that he needed to step in and appoint himself the economic adviser to the Selangor state government to solve the ‘Khalid problem’. He could no longer just leave Selangor to Khalid or else that would be the end of the state government. However, since then nothing much has happened. Khalid has just ignored whatever Anwar wants done and acts as if Anwar does not exist.
When we said that Perak was about to fall they responded with denials and pooh-poohed what we said. Now we are saying that Selangor is also about to go into crisis. Are they still going to pooh-pooh this as well?
Mike does not want to bring Selangor down. That is the farthest thing from his mind. What he wants is for Selangor to get its act together. But Khalid, instead of responding to what Mike said, has challenged him to make a police report.
In short, Khalid has asked Mike to go to hell.
There is still time. Anwar can still save Selangor. But he can’t keep Khalid as the Menteri Besar if he wants to save Selangor. Keeping Khalid around only means that Selangor is doomed. This is a foregone conclusion.
Well, Anwar, what’s it going to be? Does Khalid stay or does he go? And if Khalid stays then that is the end for the Pakatan Rakyat government of Selangor.
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Kapar member of parliament S Manikavasagam has been urged to reveal the name of the Kumpulan Semesta Sdn. Bhd. (KSSB) official which he alleges to be corrupted.
Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said Manikavasagam had nothing to fear as the state government would investigate his allegation.
“Manikavasagam has to be transparent. I advise him to reveal the name and lodge a police report so that we can act accordingly,” he said when closing a motivation seminar for Tamil school students here today.
Khalid was commenting newspapers reports today where Manikavasagam alleged that a KSSB official was very corrupted and urged him to act.
Manikavasagam also gave Khalid 72 hours to act against the official before he revealed the name.
Khalid denied that his brother Abdul Rahman had interests in KSSB, a company involved in the sand and minerals industry. KSSB is a wholly owned company of Menteri Besar Incorporated. – Bernama
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Officers with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) left Kapar MP S. Manickavasagam’s office empty-handed after a failed bid to coax him to hand over documents on the graft allegations against the Pakatan-led Selangor owned sand mining firm.
For 45 minutes ,the duo, Saiful Ezran and another officer known only Kesavan from Putrajaya, tried to coax the MP to give them the documents pertaining to Kumpulan Semesta Sdn Bhd (KSSB), a wholly owned firm of Mentri Besar Incorporated. to facilitate investigations, but he declined their offer.
Another two officers waited downstairs along the shop lot office but no statements were recorded.
Manickavasagam said he would lodge a report at the Klang Police Headquarters Tuesday and hand the documents to the police.
“I do not trust the MACC because the commission has failed to act on the Kampung Perepat land scandal and also on the Teoh Beng Hock case despite complaints made earlier.
“If the commission wishes to investigate than they can follow-up on the police report,” he told the officers who had arrived at 10.30am.
Manickavasagam said he regretted that the Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim had not acted on his complaints about the alleged corruption of KSSB senior officers in the sand mining firm.
“Khalid must take steps to curb corruption and not leave it to the authorities to do the clean-up job that involves the state’s own business arm.
“I had given him 72 hours to clean up the mess but he has challenged me to lodge a police report and reveal the names. So, I will do it and give the documents to the police,” he said.
On Sunday, Khalid had challenged Manickavasagam to reveal the names of KSSB officials involved in corrupt practices and lodge a police report on the matter so that the state could act accordingly.
Manickavasagam added that his action should not be misconstrued, as the aim was not to tarnish the state’s image or attack Khalid but to ensure that a clean government prevailed, as promised in the March 2008 General Elections. – The Star
Translated into Chinese at: http://ccliew.blogspot.com/2010/05/blog-post_12.html
