THE KKA’s Take On Selangor Crisis

SEVERAL sessions of the Kedai Kopi Assembly (KKA) were held after Ramadan. Many Muslim members crazed daytime tek tarik and roti canai.

There were many subjects and issues needing an update like the slugfest over the Selangor Menteri Besar post and the Prime Minister, Mohd Najib Abdul Razak, doing the MIA (missing in action), while on an MH17-related mission in Europe.

The KKA was told that for several days the country was without the PM and the DPM as both were abroad. Walla, we are on auto cruise again! What a blessed country.

The sessions variously involved a former minister, several businessmen and women, corporate executives, journalists, bloggers and a very important young political operator from the PMO.

The twist and turn, the rumba and samba of the Selangor MB crisis are becoming so Bollywood that fantasy and reality, the hero and the valiant have all gelled into one big blob of nastiness.

The following are among the points raised, discussed and conculed:-

1. Abdul Khalid Ibrahim (AKI) had out-manoeuvred the PKR’s Ketua Umum (General Leader), Anwar Ibrahim. AKI’s sacking from the PKR has, in effect, strengthened his position. He no longer has to listen to Anwar and has become the power unto himself, which he swiftly used to sack five Ecxo members from the PRK and DAP. He could not rule without sacking them.

2. AKI is safe until October when the state legislative assembly (DUN) is due to begin a new session, unless the PKR or the Pakatan Rakyat can use legal means (including the court) to convene an emergency sitting.

3. AKI may form a new state government with PAS (15 seats) and Umno (12). With himself, there will be 28 and he can appoint an outsider as the Speaker to make the total 29.

4. AKI may find himself a leader without supporters if PAS during its CWC meeting scheduled for Aug 17 decided to accept Anwar’s so-called apology and agreed with Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail’s appointment as MB. Or it may insist on another PKR candidate acceptable to Anwar.

5. Anwar is said to have apologised to PAS President, Abdul Hadi Awang, during their hotel meeting in Kuala Terengganu a few nights ago if he had done anything wrong to offend the Tuan Guru.

6. Anwar left much of the talking at the KT meeting to PKR’s Secretary General, Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and Abdul Hadi left the talking to the party’s Sec Gen Mustafa Ali.

7. There appears to be a degree of distrust and animosity between Abdul Hadi and Anwar. Could this be because of old rivalry during their leadership of ABIM and the more recent developments such as PAS’ alleged preference for Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah as the PM candidate should the PR won last year’s general election?

8. There are also talks that Abdul Hadi and Pas are obligated to AKI because he gave them political funding before and during the 2013 general elections. Abdul Hadi blamed Anwar for the problem in Selangor.

9. There is fear in PAS that Dr Wan Azizah will be nothing more than Anwar’s puppet. This was borne out when Anwar wrote to the Selangor Palace to seek an appointment for Dr Wan Azizah to have an audience with the Sultan. Anwar withdrew the letter and Dr Wan Azizah wrote “her own” letter to the Sultan.

10. The DAP has had enough of AKI. AKI has proven to be a hard nut for the DAP to crack. DAP cherishes the idea of having a softer person as MB and Dr Wan Azizah fits the bill.

11. The DAP could have saved the day for the PR. Abdul Hadi and Mustafa met Lim Kit Siang (LKS) and his son Lim Guan Eng (LGE) and purportedly pledged that PAS would remain in PR. GLE insisted that the stand must be made known to Anwar, hence the KT meeting between Abdul Hadi and Anwar.

Is PR still Pakatan Harapan Rakyat?

12. For all his loyalty to Anwar, Mohamed Azmin Ali, the PKR Deputy President appeared to have been played out and forgotten.

13. The Sultan and the Royal Council take a neutral stand. They do want to be dragged into the cesspool. AKI gets to continue as MB because there is “legal” proof that he has lost the support of the DUN. And presumably that will continue to be the case until the DUN reconvenes in Oct.

14. The cancer in the PKR has reached the 4^thstage and is in eminent danger of spreading to PAS. Unlike the DAP, which is essentially Chinese, PAS shares some DNA materials with the PKR – both are essentially Malay and Muslim.

15. Desperation is what provoked the move to replace AKI with Dr Wan Azizah. Anwar could be running out of time. If the upcoming Federal Court ruling on his sodomy case is not in his favour, Selangor’s wealth is key to the his future and the future of PKR.

16. Anwar needs money and power base if he wants the PKR to continue to be the matchmaker of the PR and to enhance the chances of the alliance winning the next GE. If PR wins, it can spring Anwar out of prison by seeking a royal pardon for him in the event that he is committed to prison.

17. And one KKA member, who is fond of conspiracy theories, asked: Why did Bank Islam write off RM70 million of AKI’s borrowing when it had won the case all the way to the Appeal Court? Has this got something to do with the various water-related deals the Selangor Government entered with the Federal Government in recent months? And what was the role of Ethos Consulting in all of these?

Wallahuaklam.

Footnote: I am a Selangor voter since the 1970's.