Selangor constitutional crisis
Lim Sue Goan, Sin Chew
Even though Khalid Ibrahim has been sacked by PKR, the Selangor Sultan has granted him consent to continue to serve as mentri besar, much to the frustration of both PKR and DAP.
As if that is not enough, Khalid can always exercise his power as the MB to replace exco members who do not support him, or bar PKR and DAP from using the state’s resources, among other things.
Under the state constitution, the partyless Khalid can still be BN unless a motion of no confidence is tabled against him in the state legislative assembly, or PKR and DAP can prove to the Sultan that Khalid has lost the support of half the elected reps. However, the state assembly will only convene in November, while both parties have yet to secure more than half of the elected reps’ support.
Will some of the elected reps from PKR and DAP lean towards Khalid, resulting in the eventual split in the opposition pact?
Khalid will still need to go back to the state assembly sitting, and will very likely attempt to bring about a PAS-Umno coalition government.
If PAS accepts Khalid’s admission into the party, it will mean the party will officially break ranks with the other two parties in Pakatan Rakyat, something that BN has longed to see. That said, the Chinese-majority component parties within BN should never get excited too early, as this will mark the start of their worst nightmare.
It all depends on PAS’s attitude whether Pakatan Rakyat will disintegrate. If the conservatives within PAS take control of the party directions, then PKR and DAP may have to see their hard-earned state administration fall into the hands of PAS-Umno.
The more liberal in PAS may make the last-ditch effort to persuade their leaders to do otherwise. For instance, PAS vice president Husam Musa has expressed his stand that it will be better to stay within Pakatan.
Nevertheless, Syura Council chairman Nik Aziz and Kelantan MB Ahmad Yaakob have said PAS would have to accept that the party might have to go at it alone, showing that PAS is not bothered about having to exit Pakatan.
As such, the August 17 central committee meeting will be a day to determine the fate of Pakatan Rakyat. The conservatives may propose some conditions to PKR-DAP for PAS to stay within Pakatan. Alternatively, it could announce straightaway it is leaving Pakatan.
A PAS-Umno coalition government does not augur well for the multiracial reality of this country, and both MCA and Gerakan will now have to bear the same burden that DAP used to bear.
To PAS, working with Umno will give the party an edge in dominating the state administration (15 seats vis-à-vis Umno’s 12). It will also mean the hudud law could very likely be implemented in both Kelantan and Selangor.
Indeed the Selangor state administration is a big lure for BN. Umno, in particular Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, has always felt bad losing Selangor, and will therefore be more than happy to recapture the state through a state constitutional crisis.
For sure Umno can decline working with PAS, and Khalid awaiting fresh state elections. But then there are potential risks, and large sums of electoral expenses may be incurred.
PAS may set some conditions for Umno to join the coalition government. But will Umno consult the opinion of its BN allies first? What if the other component parties disapprove of it?
With the support of PAS, BN’s constituency redelineation bill can be passed with a two-thirds majority in Parliament, further consolidating Umno’s grip on the central government.
But then how will MCA, Gerakan, MIC and PBB think of a PAS-Umno coalition government in Selangor? So far only MCA Youth chief Chong Sin Woon has expressed his views. He stressed that MCA would only agree to a PAS-Umno coalition upon fulfilment of three conditions, i.e. Selangor will not enforce hudud law, and will not introduce other Islamic policies like in Kelantan, and that MCA, Gerakan and MIC must be allowed to play key roles in the state exco.
If Umno were to form a state administration with PAS, is it going to be a 100 per cent Malay government. Bearing this in mind, how do we expect non-Muslims to have a say in the state administration?
Moreover, will the PAS-Umno cooperation be confined only to Selangor or will it be extended nationally? Will the BN government’s policies be influenced by PAS?
The conservatives within PAS should be held accountable for the crisis in Selangor although Anwar Ibrahim must not be spared from blame for his clumsy manipulation of politics.
