Is It the end of Pakatan Rakyat in Selangor?

(Bernama) – Mohamed Azmin is not quite ready to give up his post so soon. As such, he will not just sit and watch PR disintegrating just like that.

Selangor’s political landscape is set to change following the DAP’s declaration that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) has ceased to exist.

The latest developments have rocked the foundation of the loosely-formed coalition – comprising Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), PAS and DAP – which controls the Selangor administration, and given rise to talk that changes may in store at the 56-seat State Legislative Assembly.

Political analysts are of the opinion that Mohamed Azmin Ali’s position as Selangor menteri besar will not be compromised, although PR is not in existence anymore.

This is because he can only be stripped off his menteri besar post if the state assembly passes a no-confidence motion against him.

As such, will it be essential for Mohamed Azmin to seek a statutory declaration to prove that he has the support of the state assembly in order to safeguard his position as menteri besar?

The DAP and PAS have 15 seats each and PKR 13 seats in the Selangor State Legislative Assembly. The state’s opposition coalition Barisan Nasional (BN) has 12 seats, with the remaining seat being held by an independent.

To form the state government in Selangor, any coalition or party will require a minimum of 29 seats in the state assembly.

CRISIS SURROUNDING PAKATAN’S STATUS

In the context of the PKR-helmed Selangor administration, either PAS or the DAP should withdraw from PR in view of the fact that both the parties have resolved to sever ties with each other.

PKR itself is aware of this and its president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail admitted in a statement yesterday that PR was no longer functioning formally.

DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng’s declaration on Tuesday that PR has “ceased to exist” is bound to have a huge impact on PAS’ status in Selangor, particularly that of its three state Executive Council (Exco) members who have forged a good working relationship with the DAP and PKR under Mohamed Azmin’s stewardship.

Calls and WhatsApp messages to Selangor PAS Commissioner and Exco member Datuk Iskandar Abdul Samad to get his comments on Lim’s announcement went unanswered.

However, in a message he posted in his Facebook account on Tuesday, Iskandar said PAS State Assemblymen in Selangor have called for efforts to fortify PR, in line with PAS President Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s policy address at the party’s muktamar recently, in which he stressed the party’s commitment towards the coalition.

According to Iskandar, the assemblymen were in agreement that efforts should be made by all the parties concerned to restore ties among the PR components, although they admitted it may be a challenging task. He said the assemblymen were confident that the three parties (PAS-DAP-PKR) would rise to the occasion by resolving the various outstanding issues in a sensible manner through the consultative process.

The question now is, if attempts to salvage the relationship between DAP and PAS end up unsuccessful and PAS makes up its mind to withdraw from PR, will Selangor see fresh state elections being held? What kind of strategies will the DAP and PKR adopt to maintain the status quo of the current administration?

SUPPORT OF TWO PAS ASSEMBLYMEN

In his announcement on Tuesday, Lim made it clear that his party would support any move by Mohamed Azmin to chart out a new and effective coalition to govern Selangor

Besides the possibility of the DAP and PKR teaming up with a new party to replace PAS, the two parties, to all intents and purposes, seem confident that the status quo of the current state government in Selangor can be maintained, without the need to dissolve the state assembly – more so, with the presence of two PAS assemblymen who are willing to betray their own party by throwing their support behind PKR-DAP.

Not surprisingly, the spotlight is now on these two assemblymen, Saari Sungib (Hulu Klang) and Hasnul Baharuddin (Morib), whose party membership was suspended after they supported Wan Azizah as candidate for the Selangor menteri besar’s post last year.

When contacted by Bernama, Hasnul said he was ready to support PKR and the DAP should they decide to retain the state administration without PAS.

“If need be, I will give my support to the menteri besar (Mohamed Azmin) and DAP to continue ruling Selangor.

“This is the best I can do for the future of the coalition in Selangor and the welfare of the people. Whatever it is, I’ll wait and see what further action the menteri besar will take,” he said.

However, to date Saari has not stated his stand on whether he wanted to remain with PAS or switch to PKR.

Currently, all eyes are zeroing in on PKR and Mohamed Azmin, who have yet to issue any official statement with regard to which party they want to cooperate with in Selangor.

But one thing is certain – Mohamed Azmin is not quite ready to give up his post so soon. As such, he will not just sit and watch PR disintegrating just like that.