Last day of the PKR Congress, or last days of PKR? (UPDATED with Chinese Translation)

ARCHIVES 2010

By MT Webmaster On May 29, 2010

Will the last day of the PKR Congress turn out to be the last days of PKR? In a few hours more we shall know. The cauldron is boiling. The contents are spilling over. I doubt anyone can force the lid down and prevent the law of physics from taking over.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

PKR has no plans to remove Khalid

PKR has no plans to remove embattled Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim from his posts, said party president Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

She said despite the problems plaguing Khalid, the Pakatan Rakyat coalition had collectively decided on retaining him as the Selangor administrative chief.

“For now, there is no move to remove Khalid. We will discuss with the party and the Selangor (government) for their views. But he will remain as Selangor MB,” she told a press conference after her presidential address at the PKR national congress earlier today.

PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, who was also present, concurred with Azizah.

“This is merely a question of a full investigation (into the sand-mining scandal). Khalid has done this. He has also set up Selcat (Select Committee on Competency, Accountability and Transparency) which is led by the (state assembly) speaker.”

“As such, I don’t see a problem. If there are reports (of wrongdoings) as indicated in the president’s address, we will act immediately,“ said Anwar.

Khalid is embroiled in an illegal sand-mining scandal involving state government-owned company Kumpulan Semesta Sdn Bhd (KSSB). — Free Malaysia Today

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Dr Wan Azizah Ismail and Anwar Ibrahim do not seem to get it. The problem is not the mismanagement of the sand contract or the possible corruption behind the contract or even the estimated loss of revenue of RM100 million a year to the Selangor state government. It is much more than that.

The sand issue is not the problem. It is the symptom of a bigger problem. It is in fact the last straw that broke the camel’s back.

One can’t solve the problem by curing the symptoms. I have said this many times before. We need to solve the problem by getting at the cause of the problem. And the root of the problem is Khalid Ibrahim is just not able to do the job he has been entrusted to do.

A party congress is the platform or venue for the members to speak out. This is where they express themselves and let their views be known. It is the place that they debate and argue and come to a consensus on the best way forward.

We do not like party leaders airing the party’s dirty linen in public. It is even worse when they use the mainstream media to air their grievances seeing that the mainstream media is the propaganda arm of the ruling party and seldom will the mainstream media have nice things to say about the opposition. But when the party leadership does not listen to the ground, when the party leadership closes all avenues for discussion and debate, then they offer very little choice other than an open rebellion.

And this is most likely what we shall be seeing today, the last day of the PKR Congress.

A line is forming. On the one side we have the extremely stubborn leadership that is ignoring the voices of dissent. On the other side is a group of disenchanted and disillusioned leaders who feel that the top leadership is on self-destruct mode.

I may be thousands of miles away from Kota Bharu where the party congress is being held. But the heat is so unbearable it is as if I am just next door to the goings-on. And I do not like what I am feeling.

The next few hours are very crucial. If the top leadership wishes to send a message that only two people decide what happens, Dr Wan Azizah and Anwar, and that all other voices do not matter, then that message has already been delivered yesterday.

And today will be the turn of the dissenters to send their message to the top leadership. And that message is going to be: then let these two people run the party without any help from the others.

Does the party leadership think that just by solving the sand issue everything will return to normal? It will not. Removing the last straw from the camel’s back will not bring the camel’s back to normal. A broken camel’s back will remain broken, never mind how many straws you remove from its back.

The announcement to the media yesterday is seen as closing all doors to further discussion on the issue of Khalid and the Selangor government. It has been interpreted as the top leadership’s way of telling the dissenters to shut their mouths and no longer bring the issue up. If no further discussion is allowed, if the door to negotiation has been closed for good, then there can only be one option left to those who are not happy with the Selangor situation. And that would be to leave.

Yes, Wan Azizah explained that the ‘frogs’ deserted the opposition for monetary gains. That may have been true thus far. But the next lot that leaves will not be leaving because they have been bribed to leave. They will leave because they have totally lost all confidence with the top party leadership.

And this is sad. It is sad because those who might now leave are not doing so because they do not love the party or because they want to get rich. In fact, they do love the party. And that is why they worry about what is going on in Selangor, because they love the party and they see the future as very bleak.

I really do not know how Anwar is going to manage the fallout from yesterday’s announcement on Khalid. It will take a miracle to keep the party together after this. I just pray that Anwar has some magic hidden up his sleeve. If not, then the last day of the PKR Congress may prove to be the last days of PKR.

But let us see. There are still a few hours left in which Anwar can do damage control. And if he does not then the damage will be beyond repair.

Translated into Chinese at: http://ccliew.blogspot.com/2010/05/blog-post_30.html#more