WILL IT BE WAN AZIZAH OR AZMIN?

This is actually no longer about Khalid, who is prepared to leave. It is now about whether it should be Wan Azizah or Azmin who succeeds him. And although Anwar wants it to be Wan Azizah, that is not what the others in the party want.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

While all this brouhaha regarding the Selangor Menteri Besar is blazing, Azmin Ali is silently working behind the scenes to strengthen his position. The current ‘hot discussion’ in PKR is not whether His Royal Highness the Sultan will consent to Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as the replacement to Khalid Ibrahim but whether HRH would prefer Azmin instead.

And yesterday’s so-called ‘revelation’ by Selangor PAS Youth Chief, Suhaizan Kayat, that the idea to propose Azmin’s name came from His Royal Highness the Sultan of Selangor is fueling this discussion and is being presented as ‘evidence’ that HRH wants Azmin and not Wan Azizah. (I wonder how much Azmin paid him).

Azmin is talking to various Pakatan Rakyat leaders to get their support in his bid for the Selangor Menteri Besar’s post. He is telling them that, while Wan Azizah will be a puppet MB to Anwar Ibrahim, he, on the other hand, is going to be an independent MB who will not be under Anwar’s thumb.

And that, says Azmin’s boys, is what the palace wants to hear.

Khalid can actually stay on as MB if he crosses over and joins PAS. He will never join Umno even if his life depends on it. But he also does not want to join PAS because he first wants to clear his name of all those misconduct and corruption allegations made against him.

On this score Khalid is being a bit too idealistic because allegations are just that, allegations, which do not tantamount to evidence. The fact that SELCAT did not haul him up for a hearing is proof that they have nothing against him.

Nevertheless, Khalid has lodged a report with the MACC and invited them over to the Selangor State Secretariat building where he will open up all the files for them to investigate. This move may actually hurt Pakatan Rakyat because while they might find nothing against Khalid they are definitely going to find something against certain EXCO members, even some of those no longer around.

Maybe Khalid not only wants MACC to prove him innocent but also to prove others guilty as well. If this happens it would not be impossible for Pakatan Rakyat not to fall when the Selangorgate scandal explodes.

Azmin’s campaign team is telling those they are lobbying that Wan Azizah was not only born in Singapore but was also a Singapore citizen. No doubt those born in Singapore before 1957 — and Wan Azizah was born in 1952 — are automatically Malaysian citizens. However, when Singapore separated from Malaysia you were asked to choose between Malaysian and Singaporean citizenship and Wan Azizah’s family chose Singaporean citizenship, they allege.

If this is true, as Azmin’s boys say, then Wan Azizah is a naturalised Malaysian citizen and under Article 53(3) of the Selangor state constitution Wan Azizah would be disqualified from being the MB.

Azmin’s boys are also saying that HRH will not accept any letter from Pakatan Rakyat because there is no such legal entity. In fact, the letters issued under the Pakatan Rakyat letterhead are signed by Anwar Ibrahim as de facto PKR leader and not as Chairman or President of Pakatan Rakyat.

Hence, says Azmin’s boys, PKR, DAP and PAS will each have to submit individual letters, three letters in all, and while PKR’s and DAP’s letters will propose only one name, PAS’ letter will state two names, his included.

This will allow HRH two choices and if Wan Azizah is not qualified then HRH always has Azmin to fall back on. Hence the Selangor MB Crisis will be settled on 28th August 2013, just in time to celebrate Merdeka a few days later.

If it becomes a contest between Wan Azizah and Azmin for sure Azmin will win. He has more support from the grassroots. Many PKR leaders are very pissed with Anwar and by extension with Wan Azizah as well.

During the PKR meeting to decide this matter, a number of leaders wanted two names proposed but it is said that Anwar slammed the table and shouted that only Wan Azizah’s name be proposed.

PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang’s absence from the Pakatan Rakyat council meeting was no coincidence but was actually a snub. Hadi can no longer tolerate Anwar. And since Anwar stole two of PAS’ state assemblymen, Hadi feels it is not wrong for Khalid to join PAS.

This is actually no longer about Khalid, who is prepared to leave. It is now about whether it should be Wan Azizah or Azmin who succeeds him. And although Anwar wants it to be Wan Azizah, that is not what the others in the party want.