Azmin-Khalid feud enters a new level
The PKR deputy president, according to Raja Petra, is on a ‘whispering campaign’ to court support against the MB.
Syed Jaymal Zahiid, FMT
Raja Petra Kamarudin claimed today that the Azmin Ali-Khalid Ibrahim fight is being raised to a new level with the latter planning to exploit a land tussle issue to incriminate the Selangor menteri besar.
The firebrand blogger said that Azmin, who is PKR’s No 2, is now on a “whispering campaign” to court support against Khalid who was said to have abused his power in the land deal.
The 18.51 acre of land in the middle of Klang town near the Goldcoast Hotel and the new Klang Mosque is allegedly owned by Yayasan Selangor, a state statutory body.
Raja Petra, who runs the popular website Malaysia Today, said Khalid had used his power to give the land to his “blue-eyed girl” executive councillor Elizabeth Wong who had wanted it for a Chinese cultural centre project.
Yayasan Selangor was said to have objected to the idea but was forced to concede when the Selangor MB allegedly interfered in the matter.
The body purportedly had an initial joint-venture plan with Persada Sdn Bhd to develop the land. It later sent a letter of appeal dated July 12, 2011, to Khalid against surrendering the land.
Secret war
“Azmin is suggesting that there is something not too kosher about this land transaction, which he says Khalid approved.
“Azmin’s boys say Elizabeth Wong abused her authority with the backing of Khalid and they want to use this as the leverage to oust Khalid,” wrote Raja Petra.
The self-exiled blogger added that while Azmin exposes what he claims to be Khalid and Khalid’s people’s wrongdoings, “Umno is consolidating in their attempt to grab back Selangor from Pakatan Rakyat”.
Raja Petra had said in the past that the rivalry between Azmin and Khalid’s faction provided a glimpse into the former’s ambition to strengthen his position as Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim’s successor.
Anwar, who is also PKR’s de facto leader, is seen as the only factor that keeps the secularist DAP and Islamist PAS together. His moderate image and politics are seen as a key appeal to Malaysia’s mutiracial electorate.
Azmin’s “secret war” against Khalid and his ambitions for the party may rattle the fragile unity between the three major component parties in Pakatan, said the Malaysia Today webmaster.
