Azmin must find quick ways to mend fractious Pakatan Rakyat
Zubaidah Abu Bakar, The Rakyat Post
IN a clear voice, Mohamed Azmin Ali read his oath of office as the 15th Selangor Menteri Besar at a ceremony held at the Throne Room of Istana Alam Shah in Klang.
It is a position the 50 year-old Bukit Antarabangsa assemblyman had long wanted, precisely since members of the loose tripartite political pact, Pakatan Rakyat, agreed the post is to be given to Parti Keadilan Rakyat, the party in which Azmin is the deputy president after the 2008 General Election.
Azmin, who is also Gombak Member of Parliament, missed the boat again after the 2013 General Election when PKR, with the endorsement of its allies PAS and the DAP, decided to allow immediate past Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim to continue for another term.
This time also, his name was not among the nominees submitted by the three parties for Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah to consider after the Ruler accepted Khalid’s resignation.
When news of his appointment spread late Monday, the political ground also started to wonder whether Azmin really got the Menteri Besar job by fluke.
There is suspicion that it was all a calculated game that ended with him emerging the victor.
Azmin, without a doubt, is a party loyalist; his loyalty to his former boss and PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is undisputable.
He is a politician who did not abandon his party, not even when he felt hurt and angry that the PKR leadership went ahead to endorse Khalid for a second term after GE13, when he had earlier been assured of the post earlier.
A high level of loyalty was showcased when he chose to support PKR preisident Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as the party and Pakatan Rakyat nominee to replace Khalid when PAS wanted him to be an alternative candidate for Dr Wan Azizah.
But Azmin’s detractors are saying that he had rejected the nomination knowing well that he had the highest chance to become the new Menteri Besar following widespread talk that the palace was not keen on the PKR president as Khalid’s replacement.
PKR, PAS and DAP may have officially said they had accepted his appointment, but this does not mean the curtains are also down on the protracted Selangor crisis.
Azmin now has to consolidate the rank and file in PKR, especially those who are firm in their belief that Dr Wan Azizah should be the Menteri Besar and no one else.
There is also fear that Anwar’s influence in PKR will start to nosedive from here since Azmin had got himself more clout and his support in the party is by far the strongest as the results of the party elections indicated, with him easily retaining his deputy president post.
Azmin also needs to find quick ways to mend the fractious Pakatan Rakyat, which in the last nine months had been badly bruised due to disagreements and suspicions that arose from the Selangor Menteri Besar crisis.
A lot of things had been said and done. All these need to be corrected fast, so that Pakatan Rakyat can continue to be the alternative to Barisan Nasional in Selangor in GE14.
From now on, Azmin’s moves will be closely watched by both friends and enemies.
