I told you about this more than three years ago

Anyway, now you know what that TV3 interview was all about. And did not what I say on TV3 back in 2011 happen after all? And am I the only Malaysian who could see that PKR is on self-destruct mode?

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

One reader posted a comment in Malaysia Today reminding HRH the Sultan of Selangor about what happened to Charles I. Those who studied history would definitely know what that comment was insinuating.

I decided not to approve that comment not because I do not respect this reader’s right of opinion but because of the race of that person and I know what type of response it would attract. In the end the responses to that comment would have been racial in nature.

The reign of Charles I was one of the courses I took in Oxford so I know what happened almost 400 years ago in England, a period known as the English Civil War. There was actually more to the matter, so we cannot compare what we can probably call the Selangor MB Crisis to the English Civil War or the conflict between Charles and Parliament.

There were two main issues against Charles I in the 1600s. One was the conflict between the fanatical Catholics and the ‘Taliban’ Christian fundamentalists (who viewed Catholics as not Christians but deviants). The fact that Charles’s mother-in-law was Catholic and the Queen allowed Catholicism to creep into the palace outraged the fundamentalists.

Second was the issue of taxes. England was bankrupt so Charles wanted to increase taxes and this made the people unhappy so Parliament blocked the move. Charles responded by ‘dissolving’ Parliament and ruled without any sitting of Parliament. He even rounded by some Parliamentarians on charges of sedition.

The story is actually longer and more complicated than that but that, in a nutshell, is what happened (minus the cheong hei narration).

Selangor, on the other hand, is a totally different ball game. Selangor is about an internal struggle within PKR plus power play within Pakatan Rakyat. It is not about Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim. The MB issue is just the battlefield where they will fight it out and determine who, in the end, is going to emerge as the taiko.

Contrary to what many believe, the move to oust Khalid did not start after the May 2013 general election. It started more than two years before that, long before the May 2013 general election. But Anwar Ibrahim could not make his move earlier.

This was actually confirmed by one of Anwar’s confidantes when we met in Bali around that time. He told me that they are not happy with Khalid and that the blame has to be put on Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail who is backing Khalid and is allowing Khalid to get away with what he is doing.

This confidante said they had many times ‘complained to Anwar about his wife’ but Anwar did nothing. So Anwar is equally guilty for what Khalid is doing, said this confidante. Of course, the solution, said the confidante, would be to replace Khalid with Azmin Ali. And this is why Anwar did nothing. He did not want Azmin as the new Selangor MB.

If you can remember, a few weeks after that I went on TV3 and whacked Anwar. I accused him of this, that and the other. Unfortunately, TV3 kept that interview and waited until around the Sarawak state election before airing it. So most people thought it was targeted at the Sarawak election whereas it was meant for the Selangor issue.

The fact that in that TV3 interview I focused on the weaknesses, shortcomings and problems in Selangor and complained that the promises made in the March 2008 general election have not been delivered even though Pakatan Rakyat has a mandate in Selangor should have been telling enough.

But you know Malaysians. They are incapable of detecting messages unless you talk to them like you talk to primary school children. Hence the message was lost in translation, if you wish, which literally happened. In that very long interview, Malaysians focused on just one small part of that interview, the part about Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Anyway, as I said, the move to oust Khalid started more than two years before the May 2013 general election. However, they could not oust him before that so they waited until the following general election to do it. Khalid was supposed to have been dropped in the May 2013 general election and Azmin was supposed to take over, according to Azmin’s boys.

But they could not do this for a number of reasons. One was because they did not know who should be nominated as Khalid’s successor. The popular candidate, of course, was Azmin (as he was promised) but Anwar feared Azmin. Anwar was worried that if Azmin became the new MB then Anwar would have no control over him. Anwar wanted a MB he could control.

The next obstacle is: while the PKR grassroots may support Azmin as MB, DAP and PAS do not. Hence if it were revealed (before the May 2013 general election) that Azmin was going to replace Khalid as MB, DAP and PAS would protest and this may hurt Pakatan Rakyat in the May 2013 general election.

The third point is regarding the Selangor voters. Most Selangor voters have no problems with Khalid. Hence if Khalid was dropped and if they announce before the election that Khalid was going to be dropped that may have an affect on the results of the election.

Finally, of course, there was the problem of the palace to overcome. Would HRH the Sultan agree to Azmin as the new MB?

So, Pakatan Rakyat, or rather PKR, went into the May 2013 general election with the impression that Khalid was going to be the second-term MB. Then, as soon as the general election was over, they started planning the Kajang Move as the catalyst to get rid of Khalid.

But the plan was now no longer that Azmin would replace Khalid because Azmin was now pissed with Anwar. Azmin was promised that Khalid would only serve one term as MB and then he would take over. But when Khalid was given a second term Azmin turned on Anwar and started plotting against him.

Hence Azmin could no longer be trusted to take over as MB.

And that is why PKR’s recent party election was absolutely chaotic. Azmin’s boys were trying to grab power so that Azmin could position himself to take over as the new MB. One very senior PKR party leader told me that those branches known to be pro-Khalid had seen a sudden surge of new members just months before the party election.

Some branches saw an increase of 50-100% new members, said this leader. And what is alarming, this leader said, is that many of them are Indian gangsters. We are going to see trouble in the party elections, the leader warned me.

That prophecy was proven true after all.

So the intention to oust Khalid started more than two years before the May 2013 general election. The move to oust him started as soon as the May 2013 general election was over. The launch of the move to oust Khalid was done in January 2014.

January 2014 is three years since my meeting in Bali regarding Selangor and three years since my TV3 interview where I spoke about Selangor and how Pakatan Rakyat had fallen short of its promises to the voters during the March 2008 general election.

How time flies when you are having fun.

Anyway, now you know what that TV3 interview was all about. And did not what I say on TV3 back in 2011 happen after all? And am I the only Malaysian who could see that PKR is on self-destruct mode?

I suppose on hindsight everyone is an expert. But would you have said back in 2010/2011 that what is happening today was going to happen? And remember one thing: I said this on national TV for the entire nation to witness.

Oooo…I just love it when I am right. But then what can I say? If you are good you are good.