MB’s job out of finance wizard Khalid’s league

 

(fz.com) – Which is worse, someone who, whether corrupt or not, you can keep on his toes, or someone who is clean but does not know or refuses to take necessary action on his officers who are corrupt?

Frustration and disappointment is reigning among Pakatan Rakyat (PR) state representatives in Selangor under the administration of Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.

It is no secret that some prefer PKR deputy president and Bukit Antarabangsa assemblyman Mohamed Azmin Ali to take over the reins of the state administration.

Several state assemblymen whom fz.com spoke to said Abdul Khalid does not heed input, advice or ideas.

They find it difficult to gain necessary approvals for programmes and community initiatives, including those pertaining to people’s grouses which were submitted to his office.

Because of this, elected representatives have to face angry constituents.

The frustration and disappointment culminated in the submission of a memorandum by the PR backbenchers club (BBC) to Abdul Khalid after word that the Selangor government would slash expenditure for development purposes.

One elected representative of the state government said he was frustrated by Abdul Khalid’s delay not only in approving allocations but also reviewing and approving programmes devised for communities after painstaking effort.

“It is not easy to get professionals to come in and sit down with us to talk and draft programmes for the community. But once we submit (the programmes) to his office, there is no word on them,” he said.

“I am very frustrated. I have submitted requests for allocations for certain programmes, but so far, nothing has been approved,” he added.

One first term assemblyman said there are long delays over the implementation of development projects.

He lamented that over the past five years of Abdul Khalid’s administration, nothing concrete has been put in place to herald a long-term changes.

“Yes, we have a lot of money, but how are we going to take Selangor forward?” he asked, alluding to Abdul Khalid’s tight-fisted ways.

He said elected representatives find it difficult to engage with Abdul Khalid as he is not open to meeting with any of them, save for Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua.

“He only listens to a few people, of which are his advisers and political bureau,” he said, adding Bank Islam chief economist Azrul Azwar Ahmad Tajudin were one of the few Abdul Khalid engages with.

(Azrul was suspended from the bank after stating in a forum that Pakatan would clinch Putrajaya with a slim majority in the 13th general election.)

An MP meanwhile said there was no engagement between Abdul Khalid and elected representatives on initiatives for the people, which has frustrated many of the elected PR representatives.

“It does not matter if it is Abdul Khalid or someone else leading the state, what is important that there is a real move to implement the policies outlined by Pakatan in its manifesto but we see it happening here in much too slow a pace,” he said.

“That is why GLCs (government-linked companies), businesses, investors and so on are very frustrated because they are tied down by bureaucracy,” he added.

He said the previous notions that the civil servants were not cooperative with the Pakatan administration cannot be used as an excuse any longer.

“It has been five years. We have re-elected with a stronger mandate. We need to fulfil our promises to the people who voted us in based on what we said we would deliver,” he added.

Would Azmin make a better MB?

The first term assembly member admitted that many elected representatives are starting to feel that Mohamed Azmin might make a better MB to Abdul Khalid.

However, Mohamed Azmin does not have a good reputation with the public, who generally feel he is prone to corruption, he said.

Abdul Khalid has a clean record with a keen eye for picking out financial pickles, but lacks the meat to deal with corrupted civil servants.

“The thing is both Azmin and Abdul Khalid are not great but I would prefer Azmin as MB because things would be settled more quickly without too much fuss,” he said.

“For example, the state government’s takeover of the solid waste management policy… there was so much delay over the hiring of the contractors because his people were not happy even though they were hired through an open tender.

“He (Abdul Khalid) is really good at solving structural issues, like the restructuring of the water industry, but that could have also been done by hiring some professionals from PricewaterhouseCoopers.

“I am not saying that his strengths are negligible. I am just saying he would make a better finance minister than an MB,” he added.

Asked about the corruption factor that plagues Mohamed Azmin, the assembly member said: “Yes, that may pose a problem, but we have a host of check and balances to keep him in check.

“The state’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is there. But which is worse, someone who, whether corrupt or not, you can keep on his toes, or someone who is clean but does not know or refuses to take necessary action on his officers who are corrupt?” he said.

It is a known fact that Mohamed Azmin is not endorsed by DAP and PAS for the mentri besar’s post.

Instead, DAP and PAS had supported Abdul Khalid’s run for the position, the sole factor that propelled the former CEO of Guthrie Group to helm the position of MB.

Asked if this may have backfired on the state, another elected representative from one of the aforementioned parties said: “Yes, I think so.”

A meeting between Abdul Khalid and the backbenchers on Thursday seemed a feeble attempt at damage control following a leak of the BBC memorandum.

Both parties had played down the matter and said that it was a “good discussion” and that Abdul Khalid had no hard feelings.

Truth be told, sentiments are still raw and there is no indication that the problem will go away anytime soon.