Azmin hell-bent on punishing Khalid instead of being MB, Utusan editor says
(Malay Mail Online) – Newly-appointed Selangor Mentri Besar Azmin Ali appears to be more keen on exacting revenge on his predecessor Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim instead of leading the state, an Utusan Malaysia senior editor said.
In a front page article today, Zulkiflee Bakar wrote that after ten days in office, Azmin has yet to present any development plans for the country’s richest state but has focused instead on undoing the Khalid administration’s policies.
He said Azmin’s first few manoeuvres as the new MB show the latter holds a grudge against his old rival, despite recently calling Khalid his “friend”.
“As MB, Azmin has the right to do all those things but at the same time he cannot deflect perception that they are related to his political vendetta towards Khalid,” Zulkiflee wrote in a commentary titled “Cukup Azmin!” (Enough Azmin!).
The writer noted that Azmin, who is also PKR deputy president, was once Khalid’s fiercest critic and that the power tussle between the two dates back to 2008.
Zulkifee claimed Azmin appears to be unable to forego his enmity towards Khalid and is now attempting to tarnish the latter’s reputation by reversing policies implemented under the latter’s administration.
He added that weary Selangor voters are calling for an end to the endless bickering by Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders and want them to start governing the state immediately.
“In the blogs and social media, it is clear that Selangor voters want Azmin to focus on elevating their standard of living and not review each of Khalid’s policies.
“Azmin had promised to obey Anwar’s instruction to expose the so-called discrepancies of some of Khalid’s policies but this is not something that is urgent. But strangely it appears as though Azmin is bent on creating public doubt towards what Khalid had done as MB,” he said.
Immediately after being sworn in as MB, the PKR number two went on an immediate campaign to undo Khalid’s policies, including pledging to review the state’s water assets restructuring deal and cut the salaries of the state cabinet.
Yesterday, Azmin announced his plan to write in to Putrajaya to demand a full disclosure of all contents of Khalid’s recently signed water deal with the federal government.
He then labelled Khalid a “friend”, despite saying that allocations for senior citizens in Khalid’s state and parliamentary constituencies will no longer be typically channelled through the ex-mentri besar’s office.
Zulkiflee reminded Azmin today, however, that unlike him, Khalid’s integrity has not been questionable and it was his leadership that helped PR retain Selangor with a landslide victory in last year’s general election.
“Azmin must remember that has a very high integrity and has no bad record when it comes to morality. Abdul Khalid has no close circuit television (CCTV) recording and had never been questioned by the authorities,” Zulkiflee pointed out, referring to the sex video scandal that implicated Azmin.
“It is because of this ‘record’ (Khalid’s) that Selangor voters decided to give mandate to the (federal opposition. They gave trust not because of PKR but because of Khalid,” he added.
