Will Azmin be the game-changer in the bid to oust Najib?

Umar Mukhtar

Technically, by the 15th of January, Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali has to make up his mind whether his Selangor state government is a Pakatan Rakyat coalition government or Pakatan Harapan coalition government or just a ‘rojak’ government of situational convenience. Call it what you want but Azmin knows that the day of reckoning is coming near.

The upstart, Parti Amanah Nasional, a splinter of PAS, will be asking PKR for council seats in Selangor in accordance to the Agreement to be signed next week to formalise the new coalition of Pakatan Harapan by PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Ismail on behalf of PKR. The other members of the new coalition are DAP and the newly formed Amanah. That expected act of appointing Amanah councillors by Azmin will formally make the new coalition an operating partnership.

That will also signal to PAS that PKR intends to look ahead to working with PAS’ arch-enemies DAP and Amanah for the future. The present Selangor state government which includes PAS is just a convenient bridge to PRU 14 when PAS will then be cast away to be on its own. The new coalition is expected to retain Selangor. Electoral understanding may still be forged between the opposition parties to avoid three-cornered fights which will benefit BN. 

Sounds easy but it isn’t so simple! There’s more than meets the eye.

PKR is a deeply divided party. While all groups in PKR are rather annoyed by DAP’s antics, they differ over who is responsible for the party’s lack of leadership initiatives. Azmin leads the powerful group comprising those who see Wan Azizah as an ineffective president that results in PKR seemingly to have no future. She lacks the dynamism that Azmin has and she actually does not know how to lead.

So while Wan Azizah, like a zombie, will sign the agreement that ditches PAS for DAP upon orders by the man in Sungai Buloh prison, Azmin on the other hand, prefers to retain an option to suit his political horizons. There is no love lost between Azmin and DAP. He knows that that act will relegate PKR to be a subordinate of DAP no matter what is said. It’s the nature of the beast.

It will appear ironic that the Menteri Besar does not prefer the party that can ensure that PH retains Selangor. But he knows that it’s like a pact with the devil, he has to give up nothing less than his first-born. But partnership with PAS has other beneficial possibilities that suit Azmin’s ambitions. With PAS in tow, at the Federal level, PKR can become a desirable party for Malays. The Chinese voters may vote for PH, sure, but they are locked in to DAP’s interests exclusively.

Who else may be interested in the PKR-PAS partnership? How about disgruntled UMNO members and leaders who have a hard time operating in Najib’s UMNO. Now that DAP is out of the equation, no matter what they say of their loyalty to UMNO, these disgruntled members will look for a Malay platform that can oust Najib. Azmin is busy spending hours with them, preparing for the exodus, much to Anwar’s disgust. Anwar knows it’s an apt move but he wants to be the one leading it, or else no deal. Vintage Anwar.

Najib-haters are convinced that this is the only way to oust Najib as prime minister, and yet at the same time sustain Malay political power. DAP will be that lone opposition, much to PAS’ glee, and Najib’s UMNO, shrivelled and stale, will play at the fringes before being totally wiped out. The new partnership will start afresh on equal level, with the Chinese and Indian wings of PKR taking over the roles of MCA, MIC and Gerakan.

What about Najib’s invitation to PAS to cooperate for the sake of Malay unity? His own UMNO is on the verge of splitting, the invitation sounded like a desperate plea to prop Najib. It is not going to happen. There are other ways to skin a cat, and the Malays’ future is not tied to just UMNO. And the Hudud differences? They can agree to disagree. Nothing new.

Too far-fetched? Watch the increasing attacks on Azmin by Najib who probably had a whiff of what’s happening. Anwar, too, is watching intensely. This may be his early ticket out purportedly to do Najib’s bidding to clamp down his ambitious protege. It will be too little too late. The die is cast. Everything else that the eye can see will be shadow play to suit Malaysian sensibilities. Malaysians will welcome this breath of fresh air to get out of this rut.