Knives are out for Khalid

Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim may be sacked from PKR by this weekend as his party pulls out all the stops to make Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail the next Selangor Mentri Besar.

Joceline Tan, The Star

POLITICS is a brutal game. The knives are out for Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim and they are long and sharp.

Many of those following the Selangor Mentri Besar crisis have been shocked at how ruthless those who want to replace Khalid with Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail have been.

Some of them have described the attempts to topple the recalcitrant Mentri Besar as the “killing of Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim”.

It is a rather dramatic term to use but that is how they see it, especially after PKR secretary-general Datuk Saifuddin Nasution called a press conference to accuse Khalid of integrity issues concerning a financial and land matter.

Some reporters came away from the press conference feeling as though they had witnessed a mud-slinging session. Others thought it was akin to an attempt to blackmail Khalid into resigning.

The media folk are not exactly fans of Khalid but they have no big issues with him. The allegations being flung at Khalid did not exactly wash on the reporters.

Khalid has more than his share of imperfections but being corrupt is not one of them, as far as journalists are concerned.

That same night, several other PKR leaders took to the stage to bad-mouth Khalid.

In Penang, PKR election chairman Datuk Johari Abdul turned a dinner event to acknowledge the new leaders in Permatang Pauh into a Khalid-bashing session.

Many of those at the dinner were uncomfortable with the way Johari ran down Khalid, especially when he raised the issue of corruption.

Nibong Tebal MP Datuk Dr Mansor Othman later told friends that Johari should not have done that to a fellow party man.

In Selangor, Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli and his party president Dr Wan Azizah also spoke on the same matter at a party dinner gathering in Klang.

Rafizi did not hold back anything. The architect of the Kajang Move seems to have made it a personal mission to see Khalid gone and he spoke at length on why Khalid did not deserve to remain as Mentri Besar. Among the “sins” of Khalid were his Bank Islam loan, a land transaction in Selangor, the water restructuring deal and his one-man show political style.

“All they did was talk bad about the MB,” said a journalist at the event.

Dr Wan Azizah was more restrained. She largely defended herself against talk that she would be a puppet Mentri Besar and assured everyone she still has the energy to do the job even though she is a grandmother. But it has been pointed out that she should not have been there because she has a direct interest in the issue.

Her presence at a Khalid-bashing session was less than appropriate. Then again, very few things that have happened in PKR the last few months have been appropriate.

Moreover, social media has been awash with commentary about the politics of PKR’s husband-and-wife pair, with jokes like “MB stands for My Bini”.

Everything is moving super fast. Yesterday, Khalid was issued a show-cause letter for defying the party’s order to resign from the Mentri Besar post. He has been given only three days to reply and it is quite possible that he could be expelled from the party before the week is out. The powerful clique around Anwar and Dr Wan Azizah want Khalid gone before the Pakatan Rakyat leaders meet on Aug 10 to decide on the Mentri Besar issue.

The Kajang Move was conceived to bring stability to Selangor politics and prepare Pakatan for Putrajaya. Instead, it has resulted in disarray and open disagreements among the Pakatan parties, with accusations flying back and forth.

The PKR-PAS inpasse continues with the party planning a sembahyang hajat at the Mentri Besar’s official residence in Shah Alam this Thursday.

PKR is split three-ways among factions aligned to Khalid, Dr Wan Azizah and deputy president Azmin Ali.

“People ask why this is happening even when I go to the mosque,” said a politician from the Youth wing.

In any other party, the deputy president, vice-presidents, Youth and Women’s wings and so on would have gushed support for their president to become the Mentri Besar. Instead, there has been an uncomfortable silence with everyone waiting for the others to move first.

Only a handful of party leaders have openly voiced support for Dr Wan Azizah and the fact that Anwar had to personally ask division leaders in Selangor to issue statements supporting his wife says a lot.

Her two most vocal advocates, Rafizi and Saifuddin, do not carry much traction in the party these days. Rafizi’s image has plunged because of the Kajang Move whereas Saifuddin had lost badly in the party’s deputy president contest.

It is also possible that people are afraid to speak up. A woman party official who wrote a glowing tribute to her president was slammed as having aspirations for the treasurer’s post. A division leader who had voiced support retracted it the next day after members scolded him.

Meanwhile, the Khalid-bashing sessions will be replicated in other states over the next few days.

“We agreed to change the MB but they should not kill Khalid like this,” said the above Youth politician.

There has been an overkill in the attacks against Khalid and those doing it do not seem to realise that it has whipped up sympathy for the man. In their attempt to topple Khalid, they have set fire to their own house. Whoever takes over from him will be taking over a house divided.