DAP and the west coast plan: part 4
On the other hand, Saifuddin had also gone to London around then as Anwar’s tactical hand to meet with PDRC and figure out a plot to bring Putrajaya’s regime to its knees. A figure of RM100 million was worked out as the sum needed to break Putrajaya’s bastion.
Raggie Jessy
Anwar had long sought to tug the rug from under Khalid’s feet, but wasn’t quite sure how he would undertake a venture of such proportion, particularly since Khalid enjoyed the support of most assemblypersons and His Royal Highness the Sultan of Selangor. So he filled Rafizi in on the idea sometime before the 13th general elections and tasked him to wage pre-emptive war against Khalid.
Rafizi spared no effort in mapping a zig-zag route for Anwar to the prized podium of the state government. He crafted a con to overwhelm Khalid and blow public perception of him to bits. From the word go, both Anwar and Kit Siang dragged the entire coalition into a ruckus of emotions. The two threw themselves into the jaws of contempt and treason as they charged against the Palace and the Constitution over state matters which were no concern of theirs.
With that, the irrevocable destruction of Pakatan Rakyat had begun. Anwar launched a vendetta against Khalid and turned the coalition cold with a vengeance. State assemblypersons were torn between their allegiance to the party and their statutory obligations to an oath they took under Monarchical vigilance.
But there was just that much more to langkah kajang than met the eye. You may find it difficult to fathom the degree of chicanery with which politicians of all shades were plotting against one another with a common goal; to wrest control of the state of Selangor.
Moving in for the kill…
Kit Siang wanted Khalid’s term as Menteri Besar truncated for very specific reasons. For one, it bothered him that DAP assemblypersons weren’t as much brains as they were ballyhoo artists. Ean Yong Hian and V. Ganapathi Rao weren’t in the know of legislative and land matters, as were the better half of DAP legislators. They couldn’t afford to match wits with Khalid in debates and discussions.
And when they tried, Khalid ended up running circles around then with ingenious repartees that bowled them over time and again. As a matter of fact, they were just as easily drowned by the likes of Dato’ Iskandar Abdul Samad and Dr. Ahmad Yunus of PAS as they were by the Menteri Besar himself.
Come to think of it, it is precisely for this reason that Selangor DAP will never be able to work with Iskandar and Yunus. It bothered both Kit Siang and Anwar to the nth degree that His Royal Highness was in accord with Khalid over the issue of succession in the event that Khalid’s position as Menteri Besar went beyond salvation. But we’ll come to that soon enough.
Kit Siang turned DAP Selangor into a conspiracy of loons right after the 13th general elections. DAP had made significant inroads into the Malay fixed deposit and had the Chinese backing them en masse. It occurred to Kit Siang right after polls that PKR and PAS were no longer bargaining chips towards a west coast dominion. As a matter of fact, the only obstacle that stood a stumbling block to the west coast agenda was Khalid’s recalcitrance and the amplitude with which he charmed over most of PAS and PKR assemblypersons.
And of course, there was that other reason why Kit Siang found it necessary to depose of Khalid. He needed to avenge himself and show Anwar that he was on top of things. It bothered him that a ‘unity government proposal’ had been drafted behind his back.
Now, both he and Anwar appeared to agreed on two things; that a jail term was on the cards, and that Wan Azizah would stand in lieu of Khalid as Menteri Besar under the circumstances.
So he colluded with Anwar to pave the way for Wan Azizah to preside over the state government. Once in, he would proceed to dictate terms to PKR, the same way he is now flexing his muscle on Azmin.
Anwar’s wife was Hobson’s choice. As far as Kit Siang was concerned, Khalid’s successor had to be someone who was dead from neck up. It had to be someone who knew nuts on state and land matters, who he could twiddle like chopsticks with his fingers.
And the only name that seemed to come to his mind each time he sat to ponder was Wan Azizah. Next to her, DAP assemblymen would be able to shine their genius and tinker with administrative matters in any manner they deemed fit.
Meanwhile, foreign intelligence had gotten word of a purported ‘business proposition’ that had been tabled at a meeting in London, the one that pissed Kit Siang off. In the said meeting, Saifuddin was tasked by Anwar to deliberate terms of an agreement that would lead to a Malay unity government in Selangor. The meeting was said to have been attended by Dato’ Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (UMNO) and Dr Syed Azman Syed Ahmad Nawawi (PAS).
According to Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK), Hadi was tasked by Anwar to meet Zahid at The Landmark London Hotel without an inkling of what to expect. It seems that Hadi gave the meeting a miss and sent Mustafa Ali and Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar to represent him instead.
So on one hand, Anwar delegated Saifuddin to negotiate terms of a unity venture with UMNO, PAS and PKR. Saifuddin was there to dangle the key to Selangor’s coffers in front of Zahid, with the understanding that the government would engage in backdoor tactics to keep Anwar from jail.
On the other hand, Saifuddin had also gone to London around then as Anwar’s tactical hand to meet with PDRC and figure out a plot to bring Putrajaya’s regime to its knees. A figure of RM100 million was worked out as the sum needed to break Putrajaya’s bastion.
When Anwar failed to hustle Khalid a fast buck from Selangor’s coffers, he was said to have communicated with foreign confederates his express desire to launch an all out offensive against Putrajaya. He tabled a blueprint that was astoundingly comprehensive and laid out a mechanism with which he would dislodge Barisan Nasional from power by 2014.
The proposition came complete with a price, said to have been projected on the dollar and required to finance a revolt. Like Khalid, Anwar’s allies tossed the proposal out of the window and stopped short of tossing him out as well. They told Anwar that it was a no-go.
This was in stark contrast to the years before, where foreign funders were willing to burn rubber to get to the bank and part with sums that ran in the millions to finance electoral campaigns against the ruling coalition.
For instance, Wan Azizah had met Soros sometime before the 11th general elections to seek funding for PKR’s electoral campaign. As a result, funds that ran in the millions were channelled through Hong Kong to finance the purchase of banners, flags and other electoral regalia from China, used against the Barisan Nasional government during the 2004 elections.
She had initially sought from a confidante the means to smuggle cash into the country, but was advised against leaving a paper trail that could implicate her and Soros of conspiracy. So in a manner of speaking, she was truly dead from neck up and probably fit Kit Siang’s prospectus of Selangor’s future Menteri Besar.
Be that as it may, word of a unity government proposition had been wired to foreign intelligence the minute it struck the bush telegraph. Apparently, regional intelligence functionaries weren’t the least bit pleased with Anwar’s apprehension over a ‘Chinese presence’ within the Selangor state government and by extension, the west coast.
There was an element of truth to this; the unity proposition meandered its way past Kit Siang’s scrutiny and appeared to be a notice of suppression to DAP. This was the unpalatable truth Anwar’s confederates from abroad found most displeasing and weren’t willing to accommodate. That effectively put the kibosh on an all out offensive against Putrajaya from Shah Alam on foreign credit.
One can therefore assume, with some degree of conviction, the following to be true:
1. Anwar had no intentions of honouring terms to the unity proposition in the event that a contract was entered upon by parties implicated.
2. Instead, he was bent on retiring Khalid and taking over the reins of the state government to finance a revolt against Barisan Nasional.
3. The unity-government prospectus was haphazardly put together by Rafizi and Saifuddin and adduced with the sole purpose of keeping Anwar out of jail.
Apropos to the above;
4. His Royal Highness the Sultan of Selangor had come to know of Anwar’s intrigues and was not in favour of retiring Khalid.
5. Anwar was told that His Royal Highness would reject Wan Azizah for the post of Menteri Besar in the likelihood that he (Anwar) was found guilty of sodomizing his aide.
6. With that, Anwar began to evoke fissures and conspiracies within PAS to prevent the post of Menteri Besar from being delivered to a candidate from the Islamist party.
7. As a matter of fact, he was determined to retire Hadi as well, out of revenge for putting the damper on the London unity talks.
8. Towards this end, many closed door sessions between PKR’s and DAP’s top brass involved PAS Deputy President Mohamad Sabu (Mat Sabu) while Hadi was regularly sidelined in crucial decision making processes.
9. Kit Siang had no qualms, as he himself sought to shred PAS to bits and turn PKR and DAP against Hadi and the pro-ulama faction.
And that is how both Anwar and Kit Siang got onto the same page insofar as Khalid and Hadi were concerned.
To be continued…