Kajang – It’s not about Ambition
One of the reasons why Datuk Salehuddin Hashim (the former Secretary-General of PKR) left in a huff in 2009 was Anwar’s inability to prevail over Khalid on key issues such as how party funds should be managed and the way Selangor could help PKR politically.
Zaid Ibrahim
It’s painful to hear Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim being ridiculed once again in the Barisan Nasional-controlled media for being “selfish” and “ambitious” by standing for the Kajang (N25) state legislative by-election.
Yet again, Anwar has to endure personal attacks and humiliation, coming even from his own supporters, all because he wishes to save the directionless and malfunctioning Pakatan Rakyat from paralysis in Selangor.
Kajang is not about Anwar’s or Azmin Ali’s ambitions. It’s about the potential failure of Pakatan Rakyat as a political alliance in the state.
The problem started in 2008 when Anwar—jubilant that Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim the corporate millionaire had agreed to join PKR—promised that Khalid would be Menteri Besar if the Pakatan captured Selangor. Anwar had previously promised Azmin the same position and credit is due to Azmin for accepting the change gracefully.
So, when Khalid became Menteri Besar, he did not take kindly to the decisions and directives made by Anwar or the party as a whole. In fact, he mostly ignored them. In my brief sojourn at PKR, I saw clearly that Khalid was “uncontrollable” from the political point of view.
One of the reasons why Datuk Salehuddin Hashim (the former Secretary-General of PKR) left in a huff in 2009 was Anwar’s inability to prevail over Khalid on key issues such as how party funds should be managed and the way Selangor could help PKR politically.
Anwar’s penchant for avoiding difficult decisions and procrastinating on important issues is the real reason for the present trouble in Selangor. Political parties that want to remain viable need adequate funds and the state must be able to provide that funding if democracy is to function.
Selangor had to find legitimate ways to channel funding to all political parties—including the Barisan Nasional—in proportion to the votes obtained at the general election. Khalid openly rebuffed this idea and Anwar didn’t have the stomach to contradict him.
Today, he wants to remove Khalid from the post but Khalid understands state politics quite well. After the 13th general election, PKR wanted Azmin appointed as Menteri Besar but the Pakatan could not agree to it. As such, it’s easy for the Sultan of Selangor to reject any request to remove Khalid if the request comes only from a single party (i.e. PKR).
Had the Pakatan Rakyat acted as a single and united political entity, then the change would have been an issue worth fighting for. It would have been a matter of the people’s democratic choice of representative government and the role the constitutional monarch plays in that choice. The people usually win such contests but the opportunity was lost.
So it is desperation with Khalid that has led Anwar to engineer the coming by-election. This move, however, will not be publicly understood unless people know about the Pakatan’s internal difficulties in Selangor.
Meanwhile, the Barisan-controlled media will go to town with Anwar’s unusual political tactics and they will probably succeed in convincing the public that Anwar is power-crazy. And truly, the outcome is unclear: Anwar might lose in Kajang; and even if he were to win, what makes anyone think the Sultan will appoint him Menteri Besar?
