The long and winding road
Why Anwar is finding it so difficult to remove Khalid
Roslan Bistamam, Free Malaysia Today
Yes, I admit, I stole that heading from a Beatles hit. But that is what de facto PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim is facing in his move to replace Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim with his nominee, someone whom he can have better control of.
Rafizi Ramli admitted in a recent interview that the “Kajang Move” was meant to oust Khalid and replace him with a new Menteri Besar, although this was denied at first. And now Anwar himself says the move is still on, in response to Khalid’s statement that he would not resign and would serve his full second term.
The main grouse against Khalid is that he is stingy. He is sitting on the RM3 billion reserves that Selangor has and, in the words of one party leader, refuses to “help the party” or party members. “Help the party” is the euphemism for “give money to the party” (or its members), just like “money politics” is the euphemism for bribery.
There are whispers in Selangor’s corridors of power that Anwar wanted Khalid to sign a cheque for RM10 million so that PKR could pay the outstanding rent for the party headquarters in Tropicana, which has not been paid since the day they moved in. Khalid, however, refused because, according to him, state money belongs to the rakyat and not to the party.
Other party leaders complained that Khalid refused to help PKR’s candidates during last year’s general election (which means give them money) and this further angered Anwar. Hence the only way they are going to get their hands on the RM3 billion would be to get rid of Khalid and replace him with a more cooperative Menteri Besar.
Anyway, because of Khalid’s stinginess, the Palace quite likes him.
According to one Palace insider, they are quite tired of “elected” Menteris Besar since Merdeka who have squandered Selangor’s wealth, especially the billions that Selangor received as compensation for the federal government’s acquisition of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.
(Prior to Merdeka, the Menteri Besar was appointed from the civil service and not from among state assemblymen).
In a way, the Palace sees Khalid as an appointed Menteri Besar although he is an elected state assemblyman. And the more PKR pushes to remove Khalid, the more “appointed” he becomes. In a way that makes sense because Khalid’s job is in the hands of the Palace. That sort of makes it a Palace appointment.
