Why Anwar wants Khalid’s job

Azman Ujang, The Sun Daily

SELANGOR mentris besar have always faced challenges from one leader or more from rival groups within their own ruling coalitions whether the Barisan Nasional or the Pakatan Rakyat.

And Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim has not been spared either.

Why? Because Selangor is the nation’s richest state and the mentri besar’s post is the plum political job at state-level in the country which tends to make the incumbent to come under greater scrutiny from others aspiring for the post.

This does not happen in states like Perlis, Kedah or Kelantan and the other states because the stakes are not that high there.

In the case of Selangor, many would say that Khalid has run the state very well. He brought to the job his vast experience in successfully managing top-notch conglomerates and with his frugal ways has seen the state having some RM3 billion in reserves.

Since he took over in 2008, we have hardly heard stories about the mentri besar or other senior politicians in the state accumulating personal wealth. Nobody now talks about how easy it is for elected representatives or their cronies to land sweet contracts due to political connections. Hats off to Khalid.

But then, because of his unorthodox ways of leading the state, coupled with him spending much less time on party or petty politicking, it has caused dissent within the ranks of his Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).

And instead of getting support from politicians like Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the de facto PKR leader, his position has long been undermined by others close to Anwar, led by deputy president and Selangor party chief Azmin Ali.

What makes it worse is that even Anwar has publicly joined the fray to undermine Khalid over the past couple of weeks through his “Kajang Move” by forcing PKR assemblyman for the constituency, Lee Chin Cheh, to quit to force a by-election.

Anwar has anointed himself as the party’s candidate for this keenly awaited by-election to be held on March 23.

If the mentri besar’s job was the goal of all ambitious Selangor-born politicians over the years, now someone from Penang has indicated that he wants to be the mentri besar if he wins the by-election. I know there are many Selangor die-hards, who out of their sense of state pride, are uneasy with the prospect of an outsider becoming their mentri besar.

But there are still some twists, turns and hurdles for Anwar to surmount that won’t make it plain sailing for him to replace Khalid.

The Star reported exclusively over the weekend the latest twist that stands in the way of Anwar’s grand design – Khalid’s refusal to resign as mentri besar.

He was scheduled to sign a post-dated letter of resignation as part of the plan to clear the way for Anwar. The letter is believed to be dated March 23 to coincide with the day when Kajang voters go the polls.

Sources said that Khalid had also indicated to the Selangor palace that he would not be stepping down.

Khalid has also briefed the Sultan on the political situation in Selangor during his weekly audience on Wednesday and the ruler, who is well-versed on the State Constitution, is not expected to interfere but will adhere strictly to the letter of the law.

Any change in the mentri besar can only happen with his consent.

It goes without saying that Khalid feels betrayed and humiliated by the way some of his party leaders are running him down with talk that he has mismanaged issues in Selangor and that he is not suitable for the job just because he’s not the typical Malaysian politician.

I agree with The Star columnist Joceline Tan that it is because Khalid is a refreshingly different kind of mentri besar that wins him brownie points with the people as could be seen from Pakatan Rakyat’s massive victory in the 2013 general election when it won over five-sixths of seats in the state assembly.

I understand that with Anwar pushing his way to land the job, Khalid has been getting more messages of support and this has hardened his resolve not to budge.

The gist of these messages is: “Please don’t ever resign. The rakyat of Selangor need your leadership. You practise good governance, no corruption and political patronage and this is the way forward for Malaysia.”

A senior aide of Khalid told me: “I anticipated that Selangor politics is dynamic but didn’t expect it to be so disgusting. When Umno is nearly irrelevant (in Selangor), the stupid PKR leaders acting on their behalf are out to destroy the state.”

Another argument making its rounds is that the feud between Khalid and Azmin is silently backed by Anwar to “justify” him becoming the new mentri besar as Azmin will stop bickering if Anwar makes it as mentri besar.

Azmin served for many years as Anwar’s private secretary when the latter was deputy prime minister and finance minister before his sacking in 1998.

Khalid’s leadership is also strongly backed by PKR’s coalition partners, DAP and PAS. PAS is adamant that should Khalid be replaced, it would take up the post by virtue of it having more seats than PKR.

In other words, they have not pushed for the post out of respect for Khalid’s leadership.

The way the PKR Kajang state assemblyman resigned to make way for Anwar has already been the subject of much ridicule and protests, including from the electoral reform movement, Bersih 2.

There have been many by-elections in the past but these were mainly caused by the death of the incumbents. This time, many think that it’s a mockery of the sacred ballot box that we uphold as an integral part of our parliamentary democratic system.

The public opinion in Selangor that I get is that Khalid is regarded as the best man for the job and it’s sad to see what’s happening at a time when we have been talking so much about good governance and corruption.

And here is someone who has set a new benchmark in an apparently clean administration but is being forced out for the sake of personal political ambitions and expediency.

Azman Ujang is a former editor-in-chief of Bernama.