Khalid Ibrahim in political peril?

TMI - All eyes on Anwar to prevent fallout from Khalid-Azmin Selangor spat

The latest row was over Azmin’s seat on the board of directors for state property developer Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Selangor (PKNS) or Selangor State Development Corporation.

While Anwar has been patiently papering over cracks between both men, his views on these issues have conflicted with Khalid's and the state government's, leading to speculation of a strain in the ties between him and the menteri besar.

Based on my reading of the news media, I reckon TMI's report has been correct that Anwar Ibrahim's views on this issue have conflicted with Khalid Ibrahim's stand.

The explanation is simple: Anwar is 101% pro Azmin, Khalid is 101% anti Azmi, wakakaka.

Not that we have been surprised by Anwar openly stating (as reported in the news media) he wanted Azmin Ali reinstated as a board member of PKNS, but he did so without the announcement being made JOINTLY with the Selangor MB, the bloke who had earlier shown a blasé attitude if not his overt glee regarding Azmin being dropped from the state appointment.

To summarize, Khalid was NOT unhappy about Azmin being removed from PKNS Board of Directors, but Anwar Ibrahim WAS unhappy.

Would I be repeating myself if I were to say, why should we be surprised, wakakaka! 

There are many ramifications on Anwar's action to reinstate Azmin on the PKNS Board.

First, let's examine public perception of the PKR see-sawing by Anwar and Khalid.

The perception or impression that the public has likely obtained from Anwar's (if I may call it) unilateral announcement about reinstating Azmin to the PKNS Board would be that Khalid, the MB of Selangor, has been overruled kau kau. The rug was crudely, brutally and callously (without consideration for his been-chooi or face) pulled away from under his menteri besar's feet .....

..... by a mere state economic adviser - remember, Anwar is not even the president of PKR, nor does the rule of Selangor, to wit, the MB position belong to PKR by itself!

The second message the public obtained is of the following:

(a) Anwar favours and takes the side of Azmin Ali over that of Khalid's, as might be assumed from Anwar's unilateral announcement that Azmin was to be reinstated as a board member of PKNS. Of course Anwar came up with a reason, that the process not to renew Azmin's contract had not been according to proper procedures, and therefore that decision should be withdrawn.

It has to be said that Khalid made a mistake in giving Azmin (and thus Anwar) grounds to challenge the earlier decision, because of Khalid's known reluctance to personally confront, challenge or take MB's responsibility for unpleasant actions (don't believe me, ask Eli Wong, Tony Pua or Gobind Singh Deo lah, wakakaka).

In dropping Azmin from the PKNS Board. Khalid claimed it was the general manager of PKNS who made that decision, and this was the gnam gnam procedural mistake Azmin was looking for.

(b) Anwar has effectively given a public slap on Khalid's wrist by overruling the Selangor menteri besar's earlier statement. Alamak, boe been liao lah!

(c) Notwithstanding Anwar pointing out that Azmin PKNS directorship was terminated without due process, by publicly humiliating Khalid, he has shown that in PKR there are sacred cows who must never be offended or disadvantaged, even if it means the MB of Selangor has had to have his wrist slapped, even publicly.

(d) far worse than above, according to an unnamed PKR source, Anwar has effectively withdrawn his support for Khalid Ibrahim and will be seeking to have him removed as MB Selangor.

TMI reported but couldn't confirm what Anwar had apparently told the party's supreme council, according to a party source (wakakaka, I'm always wary of unnamed PKR source which usually turned out to be a self-serving someone I might possibly know):

“I am not in a position to defend the MB anymore. There is no discussion, no consideration, he thinks it is his state, he is in control.”

“No one knows his stand, he does not refer to anyone, no one knows ... So we have a problem.”

“There is no discussions on the water issue. I do not know (about it), I have to read the papers (to keep track of developments).”

“The Allah issue also, I do not know anything about it until today. Nothing!"

The claws were really out during the supreme council meet because TMI also reported that some party leaders (wakakaka) wanted to remove Khalid from his MB position, and of course (wakakaka again) for someone else to take over if Khalid could no longer manage Selangor according  to the party’s ‘reformist’ principles.

Wakakaka, I’m not surprised by the last part about someone taking over as MB, but I have to say that whoever talked about the party’s ‘reformist’ principles has to be a self-deceiving joker, wakakaka.

BTW, have there been too many 'wakakakas'? Wakakaka, sorry lah, can't help myself.

But I have to concede that Anwar did the right thing (based on TMI’s report) by saying that he has to consult DAP and PAS on Khalid's future and presumably, wakakaka, his replacement from PKR.

Please note again that TMI had not been able to confirm the above alleged comments by Anwar. So if the PKR source was indeed that 'usual' source, wakakaka, then it's possible that that self-serving source by dropping (Anwar's) names was out to show Anwar no longer supports Khalid, when it could well be that Anwar hadn't even said anything to that effect, wakakaka.

Be that as it may, I am sure by now the public would have sensed the perilous position of Khalid in both PKR and the Selangor state government.

But would I be correct to say that while Azmin Ali wields great power in PKR, far far more, very much more than Khalid Ibrahim who isn't even in PKR supreme council, Khalid Ibrahim is enormously popular with the public, specifically Pakatan supporters as well as political fence sitters - UMNO supporters are excused, wakakaka - while OTOH Azmin Ali is NOT, as shown on the interactive forums of online media, wakakaka.

Khalid is also trusted by Pakatan allies whereas ..... wakakaka .....

So if Anwar wants to chance upsetting the majority of the voting public in Selangor, sure, he can go ahead and discuss with DAP and PAS about removing Khalid, though there's no guarantee they'll go along with Anwar's personal preference.

Wait, as mentioned, removing Khalid as MB might not even be Anwar's decision, wakakaka, as the de facto leader undoubtedly wants to maximize his prospects in GE-14, and would prefer to leave popular votes-drawing Khalid Ibrahim where he is.

Anyway, that's Anwar's burden to carry (in current religiously acrimonious climate I have avoided using an English idiom with same meaning, wakakaka), and to discuss with his Pakatan allies but more importantly with the Døkkálfar Dwarf, wakakaka.

But let's come back to poor Khalid - hasn't he lost mucho face? I believe irreparably so, because if we recall, Khalid's first reaction to Anwar's humiliating blow to him was to spew out an euphemistic face-grabbing 'No' but without appearing rude to Anwar. The Malay mail Online reported:

The Selangor government said today it could not reinstate Azmin Ali to the board of the Selangor Economic Development Corporation (PKNS) to avoid legal problems, but will “consider” doing so after Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim ‘s insistence that the former has not been axed.

Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said today that the state government will discuss Anwar’s “magnanimous” request, but added that the PKNS Enactment prevented the immediate restoration of the PKR deputy president’s previous position in the state-owned firm.

“Until a final decision is made by the Exco, the position of affected members of the PKNS Board remains as per the instruction by the PKNS General Manager so as to avoid further legal complications,” Khalid said

It was just face-saving heels dragging because in the end, Azmin had to be and has been reinstated, but the PKNS general manager and company secretary have become pelandoks in the shameful PKR intraparty pachydermous clash, wakakaka.

Thus I opine, again from my reading of the news media, that Anwar's public announcement in favour of Azmin Ali and to Khalid's humiliation could hardly be described as TMI put it:  '... Anwar ..... patiently papering over cracks between both men.'

How nice it would have been if Anwar had made that announcement about reinstating Azmin TOGETHER with Khalid, or better still, do his de facto leader's counselling part quietly within the party and let Khalid make that public announcement himself. Alas, too late liao!

From my recent observations of Khalid Ibrahim I have to say there's some truth in Anwar's lamentation about Khalid going it alone (mind you, Anwar's alleged lamentation about Khalid is based on an unnamed PKR source, wakakaka) .....

..... not that Anwar, as mentioned by some bloggers, had previously shown much interest in the Selangor state government's governing (maybe he's preoccupied with other issues?), .....

..... well, not until now, presumably after blue-eyed boy ran crying to him.

In my post on 24 October 2013 titled Royal President Khalid Ibrahim? I wrote:

Sometime back I began to have real concerns about Khalid Ibrahim. In fact I became quite disgusted by his naughtiness which I blogged in Selangor saga shows PKR's ketuanan mentality? based on my letter to and published by Malaysiakini. [...]

... after his successful first term as MB Selangor, I suspect Khalid Ibrahim has shifted his political loyalty (note I have written 'political' and not 'subject' loyalty) from PKR to HRH. Perhaps he must have found far greater comfort in presumably HRH's liking (and even protection) for him.

As RPK had written in one of his posts:

'Anyway, whatever it may be, Khalid is not PKR’s Menteri Besar. He is not even Pakatan Rakyat’s Menteri Besar. He is His Highness the Sultan’s Menteri Besar, and which would make him my Menteri Besar as well. So you had better not forget that and try to mess with Khalid.'

Of course, to be fair to RPK and not to mislead you (by naughty misinterpretation) as to the thrust of message, you would have to read RPK's post in its entirety to see the context of his statement above.

I've only reproduced it to serve as a starting point (titik tolak) for my take on Khalid Ibrahim's recent lamentable behaviour (meaning it's kaytee's opinion and not that of RPK).

Yes, Khalid Ibrahim has found his comfort zone as the Selangor MB, more so after the recent 2013 MB appointment when he has not only enjoyed HRH's approval but was nominated by both Selangor's PAS and DAP (the latter which he ironically stabbed in the back in order to favour Eli Wong's appointment as a non-Malay exco).

To put it in kaytee's words, Khalid Ibrahim has discovered his personal 'enlightenment', perhaps that in the state of Selangor and under HRH's aegis, he is indispensable, irreplaceable and 'almost' presidential in stature - 'almost' because he still knows he must not be too big-headed to believe he could do without HRH's favour.

Thus, when PAS and DAP ADUNs joined PKR ADUN, to wit, PAS commissioner Dr Rani Othman, PKR chairman Mohamed Azmin Ali and DAP chairman Lau Weng San (plus party 'spiritual' wakakaka leader, Anwar Ibrahim) in criticizing him as MB for his refusal or reluctance to spend more of the state's savings on development in the state instead of just uselessly hoarding the surplus in kitty, he pompously and presidentially but pathetically responded that while he was open to criticisms from any leader, adding that it was a normal thing in the administration, he cared more about the feedback he received from the public more than from other leaders.

So, to this bloke, ADUNs are inconvenient individuals and not the people's representatives, while he 'presidentially' and directly represents all the rakyat of Selangor.

This man obviously has gotten so big-headed (but judiciously not towards HRH, wakakaka) that he believes he could ignore democracy and the parliamentary process, which has been why I describe him lamentably as being pompously presidential.

Khalid's pathetic pseudo-presidential declaration so irate DAP's Gobind Singh Deo, son of my hero Bhai Karpal, that he 'urged' (a polite euphemism for 'f**king demand', wakakaka) the Selangor MB to bloody well clarify the statement that he 'listens to criticisms from the people more than from party leaders and politicians'.

Gobind went as far as to say Khalid had made a "very serious statement, which may have serious consequences", meaning Khalid either knows f**k all about democracy (parliamentary process) or has deliberately ignored the democratic process - ya, that's why he's presidential, wakakaka!

Gobind said: "Khalid must not take things for granted. I ask him to respond and clarify matters."

The issue thus is not so much about Khalid's perceived kedukut-ness (stinginess) in managing the state funds as a MB but about his terrible failure to understand that in a democracy, the ADUNs are the ones who represent the voice of the rakyat, and not one sole person in the person of the MB, one who has preposterously claimed that he has listened more to the people than to the ADUNs, ...

... leading us to ask him 'who have been HIS people he listened more to? All the rakyat of Selangor? Or at least all those in Pakatan-held state constituency?'

It would be as if he has said he is NOT answerable to the state DUN and its ADUNs, the official, legal and democratically-elected voice of the Selangor rakyat, ...

... and that he 'listens more' to unknown, unquantifiable 'his so-called people'.

Based on his unbelievable bodoh-sombong declaration, if we don't watch this man carefully, democracy, warts and all, will go down the Selangor drain.

But notwithstanding the above, Khalid dropping Azmin from PKNS was not without grounds, at least on intraparty grounds, wakakaka.

If we recall, immediately post-May 2013 election, PKR indulged shamefully in disgraceful squabbling among its various factions, which then saw one of its factions wakakaka disparaging poor Khalid Ibrahim, the Pakatan-nominated MB of the previous state assembly session (2008-2013), for poor performance, describing him as a lame duck, without even understanding what the term means - I won't go into its correct meaning here.

Obviously 'someone' wakakaka was out to seize the MB position as if that position belonged to PKR. And it was not the first time too. Delusional lah!

Quite frankly, if PKR had removed Khalid Ibrahim as the Selangor MB, either then or, as reported, recently, someone still won't see his wet dreams realized because Pakatan with DAP and PAS combined would have nominated a PAS ADUN to be MB.

I dare say that other than Khalid Ibrahim, probably only 2 PKR members would be acceptable as MB Selangor to DAP and to a lesser extent PAS, namely Anwar himself and Dr Wan Azizah, subject of course to HRH's consent and approval. But alas, both hubby and wifey aren't Selangor ADUNs.

The remaining PKR ADUNs are either too young (eg. it would be preposterous for Nurul, even if she was an ADUN in Selangor, to be MB at her tender age when far more senior and quite capable PAS ADUNs are around) .....

..... or too wakakaka unacceptable - you know who, wakakaka, and I have to say, Khalid for all his faults and recently acquired pompous pretensions, is still the best Pakatan choice as MB.

I am inclined to believe that DAP may, in the absence of Khalid (discounting Anwar or Wan Azizah since they aren't ADUNs in Selangor), support a PAS ADUN as the MB.

Okay lah, perhaps it may be worried about PAS' fixation in implementing hudud to replace the civil laws, but what other acceptable PKR choice is there? Maybe Pakatan will serendipitously encounter another PAS MB like Nizar Jamaluddin?

But PKR must get into their heads that the Selangor MB position is not theirs by birth rights or ketuanan-ness. Yes, the post has to go to a Pakatan Malay but qualified and suitable Pakatan Malays are not only in PKR.

Now, why did I mention PKR's belief in or proclivity towards ketuanan-ness?

Because post election last year, in PKR falling among themselves and squabbling for the MB position inclusive of badmouthing Khalid wakakaka, what ripped the breath out of many was an absurd and laughable statement by PKR Wanita chief, Zuraida Kamaruddin.

In a preposterous baring of territorial fangs, she unbelievably told DAP and PAS to stay out of the PKR squabbling over the Selangor MB appointment because according to her, now get this, the post belonged to PKR and it was for the party alone to decide which of its ADUNs should be MB.

If that was not malodorously ketuanan-ness, I don’t know what it was.

In a media interview she ludicrously asked (rhetorically) whether the PAS and DAP state ADUNs were gila kuasa, without even recognizing the irony of her silly accusation, wakakaka.

And mind you, she uttered those unbelievably dumb words despite those PAS and DAP ADUNs nominating a PKR person to be MB, and not one of their own party members.

The sheer outrageous nonsense of her asinine claim on the MB position would have been a great joke if not for the disturbing cardinal belief by some in PKR that they possess supreme birthrights above their political allies, stemming no doubt from their ketuanan mindset.

I think Khalid's position as MB is still safe, at least for now, as Anwar had veto-ed the PKR supreme council's proposal to drop him, knowing that DAP and PAS might not agree to someone's appointment, wakakaka. There is also HRH's approval to contend with.

But I've no doubt that somewhere in a dark dank and direful subterranean cavern in Svartálfaheimr the Døkkálfar Dwarf will be plotting away to get rid of the Royal MB, wakakaka.

Addendum:

Malaysiakini's Selangor PKR chides state gov't overtransfer of duo reported (extracts):

Meanwhile, in a separate statement, Selangor state secretary Mohammed Khusrin Munawi denied reports that the decision to drop Azmin had been reversed.

"The Selangor government had never instructed PKNS to retract Azmin's termination of service which was effective Jan 8," he said.

He was referring to reports that the PKNS general manager had on Jan 16 sent a letter to Azmin informing him that he had been reinstated. "This is untrue," he said.

Mohammed Khusrin said Azmin's position will be discussed during the Selangor exco meeting on Jan 22 and the investigation over the circumstances of his dismissal is ongoing.

Wakakaka, isn't he the bloke appointed by the MCS who bypassed the PR state government in that appointment? Don't play play with the 'Royal MB' lah, wakakaka again. 

Related:

(1) 'Killing' Khalid softly .....

(2) Selangor saga shows PKR's ketuanan mentality?