Uphill task for new Selangor MB

Mentri Besar Azmin Ali will be presiding over a complicated team of rivals as he struggles to put the Selangor crisis behind him.

Joceline Tan

IT was evident that most media people were shooting in the dark about the new mentri besar’s state executive council line-up.

It was an early hint of Azmin Ali’s administration style – he is not going to open his mouth at every opportunity and put his foot into it like some of his counterparts.

Azmin was his usual enigmatic self after presenting his new state executive council line-up to Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah on Thursday afternoon and there was all sorts of speculation about his audience with the Ruler.

Actually, the audience went very smoothly. There was no objection from the palace, the Sultan gave his consent although there were some queries about a couple of the names proposed.

The shocker came yesterday morning when it was revealed that PAS had been allotted only three executive council posts, down from four previously. The balance of power in the executive council had gone from 4-3-3 (PAS-DAP-PKR) to 3-3-4.

The PAS side is deeply unhappy despite being compensated with the post of deputy speaker of the state legislative assembly. The deputy speaker post is mostly ceremonial, with no real clout but it comes with a cushy salary and a fancy robe.

PAS feels cheated after the way its top leaders had backed Azmin for the mentri besar’s job. Some in the party urged the PAS assemblymen to boycott the swearing-in but they co­­operated because they did not wish to be disrespectful to the Sultan.

However, the cracks can only widen from here.

There is also talk that Azmin is under pressure from DAP and PKR to take over the religious affairs port­folio from PAS and if that happens, all hell may break loose.

But all said and done, the line-up suggests that Azmin means to take charge despite the fact that certain powerful figures in his party are still scheming against him. It was important for him to show his party that he managed to secure four executive council posts as well as the mentri besar slot.

The four PKR faces included Azmin loyalists Amirudin Shari and Dr Daroyah Alwi, who is also the Wa­­nita vice-chief. The other two, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad and Elizabeth Wong, are aligned to Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

Dr Wan Azizah had made way for Azmin, albeit somewhat bitterly, and it was only fair that the winner does not take all.

Nik Nazmi was the deputy ­speaker while Wong was in Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim’s team before she abandoned him. They were also the names the palace had queries about.

One of them apparently had a questionable work track record and was often missing from the office, giving rise to jokes that the person was saving on energy costs. The other had reportedly made disres­pectful remarks about the palace.

However, Azmin gave assurances that he would see that everyone pulls their weight.

Politics can be quite a shameless profession. Some of those who had turned against Azmin ran to him to get on the line-up, one shed tears while another tried to lobby the ­palace.

But the politicking over the posts was almost eclipsed by the Sultan’s speech. It was a vindication of Kha­­lid, whom the Sultan obviously res­pects, as well as a condemnation of the Kajang Move that triggered the crisis over the mentri besar post.

The Sultan did not hold anything back, voicing his displeasure over the way certain elements had slandered Khalid and disparaged the palace to achieve their own political agenda.

It was a revealing speech. It showed that the palace is not some ivory tower removed from reality. The Sultan knows a great deal about everything that goes on in the state and he has been terribly concerned about the political turmoil and its effects on the people.

The new mentri besar will have his hands full of issues to handle.