Now it is Azmin’s turn to be under attack

By MT Webmaster Last updated May 25, 2016

That’s almost like visiting a brothel and instead of paying the prostitute you ask the prostitute to pay you instead. Anyway, the bottom line is Azmin did threaten PAS with expulsion if they contest the two by-elections even though Azmin and the other PKR leaders deny it.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Today, Joceline Tan of The Star wrote ‘Crisis in Selangor – PAS may be booted out of state govt’ (READ HERE). Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali’s office and PKR leaders, however, have denied that report (READ BELOW).

This is just like Anwar Ibrahim’s letter from prison earlier this week. One leader said it is a fake. Another said it is authentic and refused to comment further. Then another said the letter was meant purely for internal purposes and should not have been made public.

Hakam president Datuk Ambiga Sreenivasen, said, “I think what I am most surprised by is that a private letter by Anwar found its way into the public domain. It was a letter for his close colleagues in the party, which contained his most private thoughts and unfortunately it has found its way into the press. He has every right to air his views and we should not comment on them as he wrote them sitting in prison and believing his words would remain private. It is his right to pen his innermost feelings. Anwar’s views are always welcome.”

The truth is that so-called ‘private letter for internal purposes only’ was meant to be made public all along. It is a wayang that Anwar is playing — sending a private letter that was leaked and made public when it was meant purely for internal purposes only. And that has always been how Anwar plays his wayang.

After that most confusing episode of Anwar’s letter from prison and the denial, confirmation, denial, confirmation etc., we now have an equally confusing situation as to whether PAS was or was not warned that if they still insisted on contesting the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections they would be kicked out of the Selangor State Government.

In the morning the story was it did happen. Then in the afternoon the story changed to it did not happen. Well, let me assure you that it did happen. Azmin did threaten PAS to stand down and not contest the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections or else they were going to get ousted from Selangor.

Azmin, in fact, wants PKR to contest Sungai Besar and Amanah to contest Kuala Kangsar. But if PAS also contests both seats and it ends up in three-corner fights then Umno-Barisan Nasional is going to win instead. They need this to be a straight fight if the opposition is going to win those seats.

But then those seats ‘belong’ to PAS. If it is PAS versus Umno then there is a chance those seats will fall to the opposition. But if it is Umno versus PKR or Amanah, and without the help of PAS, then most likely Umno can retain those seats.

So Azmin needs PAS to not only abstain from contesting those seats and to not turn them into three-corner contests, he also needs PAS to help campaign for PKR in Selangor and for Amanah in Perak as well. Only then can Umno-Barisan Nasional be defeated.

And why did Azmin do that?

Well, he has no choice really. If you were to read Anwar’s very flowery letter from prison, you can see that the target of his attack was not really Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad but Azmin. The Malay proverb for this is ‘pukul anak sindir menantu’ and if you do not know what that means then you should not be a Malaysian citizen.

So Azmin needs to pacify Anwar and DAP by appearing to be cutting off PAS (hence the warning to PAS) but at the same time make it look like he is still friends with PAS. Not an easy balancing act to perform and one small slip and it all comes crashing down.

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Selangor MB’s office, PKR reps deny Azmin issued quit ultimatum to PAS

(Malay Mail Online) – Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azmin Ali’s office has denied a report claiming that he had given an ultimatum to PAS to resign from the state government if the party insisted on contesting the Sungai Besar by-election.

“Mentri Besar Azmin Ali has been consistently advocating a straight one-on-one fight against BN (Barisan Nasional) in Sungai Besar. He has also been consistent in supporting a constructive relationship with PAS,” a source from the MB’s office told Malay Mail Online.

The Star Online reported today that Azmin had told the three state executive councillors from PAS ― Datuk Iskandar Abdul Samad, who is also Selangor PAS commissioner, Datuk Ahmad Yunus Hairi and Zaidy Abdul Talib ― last Wednesday to resign by Monday if their party planned on contesting the Sungai Besar federal seat in Selangor that PKR is also eyeing.

Azmin also reportedly told the PAS state executive councillors that he would negotiate with Pakatan Harapan ― comprising PKR, Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) and the DAP ― to allow PAS to contest against BN in a straight fight in the Kuala Kangsar by-election in Perak.

Selangor state executive councillor Elizabeth Wong from PKR denied the Star Online report, telling Malay Mail Online: “No such thing!” PKR vice-president Chua Tian Chang, popularly known as Tian Chua, similarly denied the report.

“No such thing. People don’t threaten each other,” Chua told Malay Mail Online. The senior PKR leader said his party was still discussing with PAS on who among them would contest the Sungai Besar by-election.

He added that PKR might have a better chance of winning the seat than PAS, while acknowledging that it is a PAS seat and the Islamist party has the “right to contest”. “So we have to persuade PAS,” Chua told Malay Mail Online.

PAS’s Iskandar and Ahmad Yunus could not be reached for comment. PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang said yesterday that his party will contest in both the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections on June 18, proclaiming that “negotiations are over”.

Amanah vice-president Datuk Mujahid Yusof Rawa said Tuesday convention dictates that his party should contest in both by-elections as they would gun for any seat previously considered the reserve of PAS.

The Kuala Kangsar and Sungai Besar seats fell vacant after the deaths of their respective MPs from Umno, Datuk Wan Muhammad Khairil Anuar Wan Ahmad and Datuk Noriah Kasnon, who were among six people killed in a recent helicopter crash in Sarawak.

Raja Petra Kamarudin RPK