The Kajang kerfuffle
Some of the things, as explained by the party’s chief strategist Rafizi Ramli, need a real stretch of the imagination — like the excuse that the by-election was needed to prevent a Barisan Nasional coup in Selangor through the declaration of an emergency, as was done in Kelantan in 1977.
Associate Editor M. Veera Pandiyan, The Star
ACCORDING to local legend, the place earned its name after a needless killing over the mere misunderstanding of a word.
Before it was called Kajang, the town once famous for satay and now for its rather unexplainable by-election was known as Rekoh.
Two men from the settlement, a Malay and an orang asli, were on their way home in a boat when it started to rain heavily.
The Malay man rowed to the bank of the river and told his friend: “Mari berkajang (Let’s take shelter).”
But the other guy misunderstood its meaning and interpreted it as: “Let’s fight.” He pulled out a knife and stabbed his friend. That is apparently how Kajang acquired its name, so states a plaque in a nearby park.
Today, it has become the scene for a different kind of killing — a political one with the plot hatched by supposed friends in the same boat.
And the man being slowly skewered and roasted over coals in Kajang is Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim.
Much as leaders of PKR want to deny it, the “Kajang Move” is to neutralise the feud between Khalid and deputy president Azmin Ali.
It also provides a great opportunity for the party’s de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to make his back door entry as the state’s Mentri Besar. It is seen as Anwar’s bid to remain politically relevant and powerful until the next general election by controlling the country’s richest state.
Over the past three weeks, Malaysians have been given a muddle of reasons for the by-election, brought about by the abrupt resignation of PKR’s incumbent assemblyman, Lee Chin Cheh.
The continuing silence of the man, who won the Kajang state seat in last year’s general election with a 6,824-vote majority, has fuelled all sorts of speculation.
Other than his official resignation letter, there hasn’t been a squeak from the reputedly articulate 43-year-old corporate lawyer, who joined PKR in 2008 after being a Gerakan member for about 10 years.
Was it all planned beforehand or was he forced to quit? There are just too many contradictions in the proffered explanations to comprehend.
Instead of rational answers, we are getting a stream of bafflegab — perplexing and pretentious verbiage from the party’s mouthpieces.
Some of the things, as explained by the party’s chief strategist Rafizi Ramli, need a real stretch of the imagination — like the excuse that the by-election was needed to prevent a Barisan Nasional coup in Selangor through the declaration of an emergency, as was done in Kelantan in 1977.
It has also been suggested that Anwar had to become the MB to tackle a rise in racial and religious tension and use his political experience to repel attacks against the state government led by Khalid, labelled by his own party as a “good administrator but poor politician”.
Tensions over the word “Allah” and the issue of confiscation of Bibles have also been cited as justifications for Anwar’s entry into Selangor.
But don’t the parties in Pakatan Rakyat occupy 44 of the 56 state seats in Selangor, much more than the two-thirds needed to amend the state’s constitution and repeal laws, like the 1988 enactment forbidding non-Muslims from using “Allah” and other “Islamic” words?
Surely, there is no need to change the MB to do that? By the way, a similar law barring non-Muslims from using those words exists in Penang, another PR-ruled state, since 2010 although there have been no cases of Bible seizures there yet.
In not so many words, Malaysians have also been told that the real “strategic reasons” could not be revealed because we would not be able to understand them.
But the one that takes the cake must be Azmin’s statement that Kajang voters should feel “grateful” for Anwar’s decision to be the candidate.
“Residents should be grateful that the world-class leader has gone down to Kajang to be in this fight together,” Azmin told a ceramah two weeks ago.
In the meantime, the three-ring Kajang circus is in full swing with Anwar, Khalid and Azmin displaying their most enthralling feats.
There has been no let-up in the open war between Azmin and Khalid, especially after the 24-hour sacking of 22 Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS) contract staff.
The 22, believed to be close to Azmin, have demanded to be reinstated and accused the MB of not acting on cases of corruption and indiscipline.
Khalid has refused to budge on his decision and stressed that he was only carrying out his duties as MB in the interest of the people.
He said that the dismissal of the contract staff had saved the state RM7mil a year, adding that some of the officers earned a whopping RM60,000 a month.
There is now an ongoing probe to find out who hired these “redundant” high-salaried officers in PKNS.
Besieged and beleaguered he may be, but Khalid has shown no signs of giving up his post without a fight.
With some PAS leaders opposed to Anwar as MB and declaring the party would nominate its own candidate, Khalid said the issue could still be discussed by the coalition’s leadership.
But whether or not Anwar will take over as MB and relegate Khalid to the post of economic adviser, he has to win Kajang on March 23.
Based on current sentiments, he is set to do so with the almost assured support of Chinese voters, who make up 41% of the electorate, against 48% Malays and about 10% Indians.
