The string pullers in Selangor’s MB crisis

The crisis in Selangor has been triggered by three men whose intricate relationships have further complicated the chaotic situation in the state.

No doubt Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is the initiator of this whole thing. If not because of his “Kajang move”, the Selangor Pakatan Rakyat would not have been pushed to the edge of the cliff.

I remember when Anwar was sacked by Mahathir, a former opposition MP told me, “Anwar is like Nelson Mandela. He will exert his influences even from the prison.”

Unfortunately Anwar lacks the determination of Mandela. His characters and weaknesses in the way he does things have made him a “tragic role” of a politician.

Anwar has placed so much trust on people around him that he has fumbled once and again. Besides, he also likes to take the shortcuts, and is anything but pragmatic. All these blunders have slowly eroded his reputation over the years.

After the 2008 general election, Anwar came out with the September 16 prediction. The prediction unfortunately did not materialise, but in its stead, Pakatan had to bid its Perak administration farewell because of defecting state reps.

He later resorted to the by-election tactic to settle the internal problems in his party. For example on February 9, 2009, PKR’s Bukit Selambau state assemblyman Arumugam resigned because of alleged “scandal” while former Penang first deputy chief minister Fairuz Khairuddin resigned from his Penanti state seat.

Anwar duplicated his old trick earlier this year with a by-election in Kajang. He was nevertheless not so lucky this time. When the power was not in his hands, he was digging his own grave trying to manipulate politics.

If Anwar were to put his charismatic charms to better use during these past few years, he should have been able to establish a more formidable grassroots foundation in the Malay community. However, he spent more time travelling overseas than meeting the people, and were seen moving around only during electoral campaigns, making it difficult for him to make foray into Umno’s rural fortresses.

He thought he could harness Selangor’s resources to bring down the BN government if he were to become the state’s CEO. The question is, resources available to the federal administration are by no means inferior to Selangor’s. If he couldn’t even manage his own party well, how could he run such an important state like Selangor?

The second key person in the MB crisis is Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim. If not because the PKR de facto leader made the first move, the Selangor MB would not have flexed his muscles.

Anwar recently stressed that Khalid used to be an old friend, or even a family member of his, and hoped party members would be lenient on Khalid, who also sent in his birthday wishes to Anwar.

How could such a pair of close allies suddenly become foes overnight?

The way Khalid treated his former PKR and DAP allies was nowhere near friends or family, but sworn enemies.

Thanks to the blessings from Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, Khalid finally cracked a smile. His selfish attitude to rather fail the world to keep himself firmly in office has tarnished his reputation. All that he wanted was a tooth for tooth.

Khalid joined politics at the invitation of Anwar, but their relationship started to sour when Anwar later sided Azmin Ali. When a business tycoon gets baptised by the foul water of politics, there will be no turning back for him.

A third lead player in the farce is PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang. According to PKR insiders, Hadi was not happy with the choice of Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as menteri besar purely because of his personal feud with the PKR boss, both pitched against each other as the leader of the Malays or Muslims.

During last year’s electoral campaign, Hadi accused PKR’s candidate of selling methamphetamine pills, showing that he could be least bothered about the feelings of his PKR allies.

It is true that Hadi has a better grip of his party than Anwar. That said, the six-year friendship between PAS grassroots and Pakatan allies is not something that should be severed just like that. Hadi’s insistence has pushed PAS nearer to the edge of a Pakatan break-up.