With Hadi on board, Pakatan's future is DOUBTFUL

Selangor's new menteri besar will be sworn in next Tuesday. But whether the Sultan will eventually pick PKR deputy president Azmin Ali or PAS' senior state exco Iskandar Samad as the new MB, it will remain a major blow to both PKR and DAP.

The Sultan has openly rebuked Anwar Ibrahim and PKR, and therefore it could be deduced that Wan Azizah is more or less out of the picture now. If Azmin were to become the new MB, conflicts within PKR could be aggravated, while DAP used to be against Azmin as the new MB because he is not that easy to be put under control.

If Iskandar were eventually made the MB, how will DAP make sure that the state administration will not become Islamized some day?

Anyway, it is almost certain that the crack within Pakatan Rakyat is bound to be widened.

Will PKR and DAP accept a MB appointed by the Sultan? It is anticipated that neither Azmin nor Iskandar would want to defy the order of the Sultan.

If PKR and DAP table a motion of no confidence against the new MB in November, that will be seen as an open defiance to the palace, culminating in the eventual dissolution of the state assembly, in which case it will remain unknown whether Pakatan can still hold on to power.

The next move by PKR and DAP is of critical importance, now that the situation has developed in a way that puts them out of control. The MB crisis has been dragging on for too long, and any delay to a total resolution will only hurt Pakatan further. This is not going to augur well for Pakatan's preparation for the next general elections or the Sarawak state election.

It is rumored that Azmin Ali will become the next MB, and what Anwar Ibrahim needs to do is to ensure that Azmin's takeover will not spark another round of conflicts within the party, or PKR is in for another major crisis.

Next Tuesday's swearing-in ceremony will not signal an end to the crisis within Pakatan, as the ulama-controlled PAS will remain very much a time bomb waiting to go off. PKR and DAP will need to settle their conflicts with PAS first before the three-party pact can move forward anew.

The boycott of senior party leaders from PKR and DAP at the Pengkalan Kubor nomination and PAS general assembly underscore their chilled relationship with PAS president Hadi Awang and other conservative leaders.

Even though Hadi denied PAS will team up with Umno while insisting that the party will stay with Pakatan, he also warned the allies not to betray the party.

Notably, Hadi pointed out on the eve of the party's general assembly that the party's position in Pakatan Rakyat would be determined by the party's political committee and Syura Council and would not be deliberated during the general assembly. Does that mean the general assembly is not the highest policy-making body and the party could decide to pull out of Pakatan anytime in the future?

From the trend that Anwar and more liberal party leaders constantly came under assault in the PAS general assembly, which some PKR leaders described as a twin of Umno general assembly, it is easily seen that the conservatives are still very much holding the reins of the party.

For instance, some 50 Youth delegates left the hall when deputy president Mat Sabu was delivering his speech. Meanwhile, the Youth assembly also passed two resolutions to fully support party president Hadi Awang and to urge a review of the party's political cooperation with Pakatan Rakyat.

In his address, Mat Sabu said PAS must not be split into another new party, as there should only be one that checks the advances of Umno.

Perhaps Mat Sabu can only look forward to next year's party elections to gain a controlling stake in the party. But given the deeply ingrained conservative forces and core power being in the hands of the Syura Council, the transformation of PAS remains a remote, inaccessible dream.

In the manipulating hands of the conservatives, PAS is headed decisively towards the path of religious politics, making it a bane to Pakatan in non-Muslim communities. That said, there is no way for Pakatan to fish the votes of Malay voters in the absence of PAS.

How will Pakatan go from here? I'm afraid neither Anwar Ibrahim nor Lim Kit Siang has any clue to this tacky question right now. -Mysinchew