Pas-PKR ties at breaking point

(NST) – AS events in Selangor steadily go on a downward spiral, former Kelantan menteri besar Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat has again found a reason to flex his political muscle across the peninsula. Whether his voice has much influence in the high-stakes political conflict in Selangor is anybody’s guess.

From one standpoint, there is seemingly a remote link for him to join in the fray as the leadership struggle is only confined to PKR in Selangor. But as the Pas spiritual adviser presiding over the party’s Majlis Syura, or Pas Consultative Council, his stand still merits deeper scrutiny by Selangor Pas leaders who are directly affected by the crisis.

However, the stunning rejection by PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim of the stand taken by the council put paid to any fancy ideas Pas may have had in dictating the political future in Selangor.

Anwar’s refusal to let the council interfere in his move to install the new menteri besar in Selangor is clearly a snub to Pas as one of the allies in Pakatan. In a crude way, Pas, and by extension Nik Aziz, was told to just mind its own business.

For a party with decades of struggle in the country, such a rebuff from an ally may have a deep cut on Nik Aziz’s credibility and his relations with Anwar, who both draw political strength from one another for their party’s interests.

Some wise guys may want to believe the political heat will subside and the crisis will blow over and the two leaders will come around to shake hands again for another crack at national political power.

One thing for certain is that they will have an extremely awkward moment to see eye to eye on a personal level afterwards even before they can say sorry to each other and move on.

Their divergent stands are clear as day even to the casual observers, as Nik Aziz is all for Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim keeping the MB’s post while Anwar is doing everything he can to unseat him.

With Khalid being sacked from PKR now, the conflict will be anything but rosy in the days ahead if there is no easing of their positions on the issue.

Will Nik Aziz still support a party-less Khalid, who technically has no links now to the common struggle of Pakatan, the very basis of Pas and PKR co-operation?

Pas and PKR will now be at the crossroads and may have to reevaluate their political partnerships, if they had not already been calculating their next moves.

The biggest question is not who will be the next Selangor MB now as much as whether Pas and PKR will have the necessary willpower to cross the Rubicon by going their separate ways if their conflicting views remain.

It may now be left to the oversized egos of the main players from either party, Nik
Aziz included, whether there is any advantage in breaking up their alliance and forego their ambitious plan of winning the federal power.

Nik Aziz may be seeing a slow decline in his health in recent years but it is unlikely he will forget his decades in the position of power before in proving his worth as an influential politician once again.

Backpedalling on his part will bruise his stature, while holding on to his current stand will likely cost the partnership with Anwar and PKR.

The coming days will prove crucial to either him and Pas just  as much as PKR is risking losing one of its allies in Pakatan if they choose not to have any compromise.

Seemingly, the Khalid issue may well be the breaking point for Pas and PKR as partners in the opposition pact with both parties are pulling the strings from both ends.

They may have various options to cool things off, but both Nik Aziz and Anwar have spoken too soon on how things should be done that they now have only themselves to blame for Pakatan’s breakdown.

Or, have both parties finally
come to some sense about the futility of their struggles to form the Federal Government that keeping Pakatan together is not that worthy?

Whatever the case, the next few days will be more than interesting to watch as the stakes are high in Selangor.