Khalid did it by the book

Shahrum Sayuti, NST

WHAT transpired at Istana Bukit Kayangan yesterday was in contrast to the dramatic way PKR attempted to oust Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim from the menteri besar’s post.

Maintaining decorum, the rule of law and even good manners was how it was in the Selangor palace when Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah consented to give an audience to Khalid for the latter to present the facts of the state leadership crisis and his resignation as menteri besar.

There was no spectacular dissolution of the state legislative assembly to pave the way for a snap election, nor was there an abrupt sacking of Khalid. The sultan, instead, wanted everyone to follow the law and established conventions to settle the crisis.

Sultan Sharafuddin had decreed that since the loose coalition of PKR, DAP and Pas claimed that they had the majority in the state assembly, they should nominate a new menteri besar and Khalid concurred by tendering his resignation, each of the three parties should observe the established convention of presenting to the palace at least three names from among Pakatan assemblymen for the post.

The sultan had also insisted for the state not to go rudderless and told Khalid to remain at his post until his successor had been chosen from among those to be proposed by Pakatan.

Typical of Khalid, he followed procedures and, being a loyal subject of the sultan, agreed to stay in office until his replacement had been chosen.

There was no throwing of tantrums, nor angry threats as compared with what went on during the weekend at the PKR congress in Shah Alam when the party’s Wanita chief, Zuraida Kamaruddin, described any attempt to dissolve the state legislative assembly as “nonsense and against the Constitution”.

Even newly minted party vice-president Rafizi Ramli warned Khalid not to advise the sultan to dissolve the assembly at the risk of “losing the last shred of decency left in him”.

As Khalid told the packed press conference after his audience with the sultan, he presented the facts of the crisis to the ruler and then submitted himself to the monarch’s discretion. Nothing more, nothing less.

Nonetheless, underneath the layers of subtleties of the sultan’s decree and Khalid’s proper response, there was a clear hint that PKR, in its haste to replace Khalid with its president, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, had not observed the proper protocol in a matter of such importance.

This was especially so when PKR and its allies made it clear to the palace that it had to accept no one else other than Dr Wan Azizah for the menteri besar post when they sent a letter to that effect to Sultan Sharafuddin on Aug 15.

Among the less subtle observers, the move could even be deemed as an attempt by Pakatan to force the sultan to abide by its wishes on the matter.

It was as if everything had to be done in a confrontational manner and in bad faith to settle the impasse.

The ball is now in Pakatan’s court and it will be for the coalition to choose whether it wants to continue playing hardball or toe the line of laws and conventions as decreed by the sultan.

It should be noted that Sultan Sharafuddin’s insistence on Pakatan observing the convention of presenting at least three candidates for the menteri besar’s post could also mean that the ruler intends for all sides in the dispute to revert to Selangor’s unwritten traditions in choosing the state’s chief executive.

It should also be noted that tradition also points to another interesting fact — Khalid and most former menteris besar were chosen from among assemblymen who hailed from the Selangor Malay heartland, in particular Kuala Selangor.

It is the same convention observed to a large extent in the selection of Johor menteris besar, who have mostly come from the state’s Malay heartland of Muar.

If PKR and its allies are to follow that tradition, they should, therefore, name at least one person from that area as those previously mentioned — Dr Wan Azizah and her party deputy Azmin Ali — are not Selangor-born. Perhaps one name that should be considered is that of Dr Idris Ahmad, PKR’s Ijok assemblyman, who is said to be well-liked by the sultan.

The tussle over the Selangor menteri besar post is still open to any conclusion as of now, except that the sultan had made it clear that it must be reached without all the mess which had earlier caused much discomfort among the people of Selangor ever since the so-called “Kajang Move” was initiated by PKR to oust Khalid.