Nik Nazmi’s turn to pitch ‘Kajang Move’ to voters
(MM) – In a sign of continued reservations towards PKR’s so-called “Kajang Move”, a third party leader has now come out to again reiterate the need to trigger the by-election for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to contest.
Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, the Deputy Speaker of Selangor and Seri Setia assemblyman, also reinforced the view that Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim will be dropped as the state’s mentri besar, when he also said that replacing the latter with Anwar was an “option”.
“Selangor faces major challenges, with issues such as the (Malay-language) bibles, water, racial and religious tension, but we do not deny that Anwar’s victory in the Kajang by-election will give us the option to make him mentri besar and more prominent in Selangor,” he was reported as saying by Sinar Harian yesterday.
While the move is widely expected to occur with the likely PKR win, the party and Anwar remain coy about the switch and continue to refer to the anticipated change as an “option”.
Denying that the machinations in Selangor indicated that PKR was the “big brother” of Pakatan Rakyat (PR), Nik Nazmi suggested that the party’s power over the state was part of the partnership in the informal opposition pact.
“PAS has Kelantan, and DAP has Penang. So we must look at the context within the current political reality.”
Before Nik Nazmi’s defence of the unforced by-election that was triggered by the unexplained resignation of former assemblyman Lee Chin Cheh, PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli and treasurer-general William Leong had both come out to offer indistinct reasons for the so-called “Kajang Move”.
Among these were possible attempts by Umno to unseat PR in Selangor where the pact holds a supermajority over the state assembly, alleged conspiracies to foment racial and religious tension, and the possible repeat of the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997.
They did not, however, explain how the move would specifically address any of the suggested reasons beyond “strengthening” the Selangor administration now under Khalid.
In a surprise move, PKR’s Lee Chin Cheh resigned as Kajang assemblyman, presumably to pave way for Anwar to contest the by-election.
The by-election is also shaping up to be a crowded affair similar to the six-way contest in Election 2013.
Aside from Barisan Nasional (BN) that is yet to announce its candidate, former minister and PKR member Datuk Zaid Ibrahim has confirmed his plans to contest, while newly-registered NewGeneration Party has also announced its plan to field a runner.
Anwar’s friend-turned-foe Senator Datuk KS Nallakaruppan of the Malaysian Indian United Party has also offered himself as a candidate for BN.
The EC has set March 23 as the polling date for the Kajang by-election, the country’s third since Election 2013 last May.
Nomination will be on March 11, while early voting has been set for March 19.
Lee won the Kajang state seat in Election 2013 with a 6,824-vote majority in the constituency that is 48 per cent Malay, 41 per cent Chinese and 10 per cent Indian.
