Anwar to contest in Kajang by-election
Anwar say he was chosen to ensure a strong victory in the by-election
(FMT) – PKR’s de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim will be the Pakatan Rakyat candidate for the Kajang state seat by-election, said Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim today.
Speaking to reporters at the PKR headquarters here, Khalid said this was a collective decision made by Pakatan.
He also confirmed that that PKR’s Lee Chin Cheh had resigned as the state rep effective yesterday but did not state his (Lee’s) reasons for doing so.
At the same press conference, Anwar thanked Lee for his service as the state rep.
Anwar also said he was chosen as the candidate to ensure a strong victory in the by-election.
Lee in a statement late yesterday had said that he was stepping down for the common good of Pakatan.
The announcement of Anwar as the candidate adds credence to speculations that he is going to replace Khalid as the state MB if he wins the by-election.
The PKR hierarchy feels this is the only way to stop the bitter infighting between Khalid and Azmin Ali, who is the Selangor PKR chief and party deputy president, from causing further division in the party.
However concerns are being raised if the Sultan of Selangor would agree to the idea of Anwar becoming the state MB.
Constitutional crisis in Selangor?
Popular blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin said that the candidate being proposed to replace Khalid as the MB must be Selangor born.
“If this person were to be an outsider, meaning not Selangor born, then His Highness would never consent to this person taking over as the new Selangor Menteri Besar,” he said in his latest posting in his Malaysia-Today portal. Anwar, who is the Permatang Pauh MP, was born in Penang.
Raja Petra, a Selangor royalty in close contact with the royal household, also questioned if the Selangor Sultan would consent to Khalid being removed and replaced with Anwar.
“And does His Highness have the authority to say no?
“In Perlis, Perak (on two occasions), Terengganu (on two occasions), Pahang, Johor, Negeri Sembilan, and even in Selangor on one occasion in the past, the state rulers have had a say in who becomes Menteri Besar. So why should that change now?
“And if His Highness says no to Khalid being removed and replaced with an outsider, are we going to see a constitutional crisis in Selangor like what we saw in Perak in 2009 plus many other states before this?” he asked.
