Khalid must go, but pundits split over Wan Azizah as MB BY MELISSA CHI, The Malay Mail Online. KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 5 — Observers concur that Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim must exit the Selangor mentri besar’s office now that his party has sent a clear signal, but diverged over PKR’s choice of Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, with one analyst calling her the “worst possible candidate” to head Malaysia’s richest state. Wan Saiful Wan Jan, chief executive officer at Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs, pointed out Khalid gained his position because his party elected him twice — the first time after Election 2008 when he was a greenhorn politician, and again last year — which meant PKR also has the right to ask him to step down from office. “If you want to join party politics, like what Tan Sri Khalid has done, he should abide by his party’s decision,” the think tank chief told some 100 people who turned up for a public talk on ‘The Selangor MB Crisis and the Ways Forward’ at the KL and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall last night. Worst possible candidate Wan Saiful however, said Dr Wan Azizah, who is married to PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, was the “worst possible candidate” to be Khalid’s replacement due to the concentration of power within the family. “In my mind, she would make a good MB, I have no problem with her personally. “But to put her while she is still the wife of Anwar Ibrahim smacks of cronyism, nepotism, corruption, everything that Pakatan is supposed to be fighting against. “It also shows desperation as if PKR does not have another candidate,” he said. He suggested that PKR and DAP should consider nominating a PAS state assemblyman, warning that if PKR stuck with Dr Wan Azizah, the party was effectively arming political foe Umno with “ammunition” that could take down the party and the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) federal opposition pact at the next general elections. Nepotism acceptable? Wong Chin Huat, a fellow at the Penang Institute countered Wan Saiful’s argument, saying the priority is to strengthen the party, if the ultimate goal is to prove it could be a viable alternative to the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition at the federal level. He said it was crucial to have a “captain that is accepted by everyone” if the pact wanted to win the contest in the long run. Using a sports analogy, he added that the leader’s skill need not be as polished as long as the person was able to inspire the other team members to be strong and score. “And if nepotism is what it needs to be a stronger party, so be it,” Wong said. Wan Saiful however pointed out that by accepting Dr Wan Azizah as the candidate for the MB post out of necessity, the public accepts there will be external forces that will influence her decision, whether through the set-up of a committee to supervise and guide her decisions, or embodied in one person, notably her husband Anwar. “I have a problem with the idea that she may not be an independent decision maker at such a high position. “I can understand if it has to be done, but the question that needs to be asked is if she would function as [a mentri besar] or as what other people like to say, as a puppet,” he said. Wan Saiful reminded the audience about PR’s past arguments against BN appointing their kin to positions of power in listed companies where the government held a controlling stake. “All the arguments against Nazir Razak should not be made board member of Khazanah, Khairy Jamaluddin should not be this and that, Hadi Awang’s son-in-law should not hold a position in Kumpulan Perangsang, all these argument you must never repeat... so it’s a matter of principle,” he said. Parties change mentris besar PKR political bureau member Sivarasa Rasiah who spoke when the forum was opened to the floor, defended the party’s decision to remove Khalid, pointing to Barisan Nasional doing so numerous times in states that the coalition governs. “In our system the party decides and that’s the system we live with. “And that’s the system that Umno, Barisan Nasional have used to change perhaps a couple of dozen mentri besar in the last 20, 30 years and nobody said anything. “The party makes the decision and rightly or wrongly the party will have to answer for that decision in the next general election, that’s the way it works,” the Subang MP said. Azmi Sharom, an associate professor of law at Universiti Malaya, also said “changing a leader is not a big deal”, referring to Umno’s contentious party election in 1987 when then prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was challenged by then finance minister Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Tengku Mohd Hamzah. The results, followed by an appeal by several Umno delegates to declare the election null, led to a court decision ruling that Umno was unlawful. Umno Malaysia was later formed but fell apart after the Registrar of Societies refused to register the party. One week later, Dr Mahathir registered a party called Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Bersatu Baru or New Umno to succeed the organisation, but the adjective was eventually dropped. “No matter what [Pakatan does, it has] to do it really well because the expectations are higher and people are not used to another government,” Azmi said. Cronyism in context Sivarasa acknowledged “there was a bit of a wayang going on”, when Anwar denied eyeing the MB seat when he declared his intent to run for the Kajang state seat in March. The lawyer called PKR’s decision to replace Khalid as having “irreconcilable differences” with the party. “I accept the criticism but likewise in 1999, when Anwar Ibrahim and the party decided, I wasn’t part of the party then but when PKN, Parti Keadilan Nasional decided that Wan Azizah would become the president of the party and lead the party when Anwar Ibrahim was in jail, that could be described as cronyism as well. But is it really cronyism? I don’t know. “To put the comment of cronyism into context, that is why she is there. So she led not just the party, she led the Barisan Alternatif, from 1999 to 2004 when Anwar Ibrahim was in jail and that’s the only reason she led it. “So here she’s back to lead again in the same context,” Sivarasa said. Khalid must go Wan Saiful reiterated that Khalid should step down voluntarily before the party dishes out more personal information against the incumbent MB. A report justifying the party’s decision, prepared by PKR secretary-general Datuk Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, is expected to be distributed to PR leaders today. “Now is the time for him to step down gracefully while there is still opportunity to save your face. “Otherwise, the public will just not forgive you after this,” Wan Saiful said.
Posted on: Mon, 04 Aug 2014 22:59:03 +0000
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