Azmin under fire
Despite Azmin’s reassurances, the threat of a coup against him is real.
Scott Ng, Free Malaysia Today
The Selangor Menteri Besar may shrug off the rumours of a possible coup against him from within his own party, but the threat is real.
Azmin Ali has been a key member of PKR since its formation and was a close confidante of Anwar Ibrahim for the most part of his political career. That relationship was probably tested some time during last year’s Menteri Besar crisis.
However, for all the time he has spent as an opposition politician, Azmin is still very much a product of Umno politics, and we see this in his political manoeuvring. Whispers of him speaking to Umno have become par for the course, and his recent backtracking and silence on issues critical to Selangor have called his character into question.
He had a strong start as the MB, taking notes from Indonesian President Joko Widodo on how to connect with people at the ground level. He gave out his number so that residents could report rubbish problems. He was on the scene, happy to address any and all concerns.
And then, suddenly, silence.
The office brought with it the burdens of the Selangor water deal and the unpopular KIDEX highway, and these have become ground where Azmin fears to tread. The people of Selangor were kept in the dark save for a few bombastic statements to ignite the populist sentiment. We do not know the current status of KIDEX, as the project has not been cancelled despite Selangor’s refusal to give approval to the developer to go ahead. The Selangor water deal remains frustratingly opaque, with no solution on the horizon except to accede to the demands of the Federal Government.
His role in the ousting of former Selangor MB Khalid Ibrahim is mired in controversy as well, as it is common knowledge that Azmin had always wanted the position and had hoped that he would be installed as MB after GE13. Ironically, the two issues he used against Khalid have now become his biggest bugbears, and he has not fared much better than his predecessor in handling those issues.
