PAS POISED TO TAKE OVER THE SELANGOR STATE GOVERNMENT

And what I said was that as long as Pakatan Rakyat continue to tidur satu bantal tapi mimpi lain-lain and keep giving excuses that they agree to disagree (without resolving the areas of disagreement) then the Pakatan Rakyat marriage will not survive.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

His Royal Highness the Sultan of Selangor is feeling slighted (murka). DAP’s and PKR’s defiance plus the many insulting and biadap comments posted in the social media by the DAP Red Bean Army, Pakatoons and ABU activists just make matters worse.

And do not think that HRH the Sultan has not read all those nasty comments that would make even the most docile person’s blood boil. I suppose, since they want a fight then they have a fight on their hands. It is what they have been spoiling for this last month or so.

Over the next three days, HRH the Sultan is going to meet three of the PAS EXCO members whom PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang proposed as the candidate for the new Selangor Menteri Besar.

PAS state commissioner Iskandar Samad has been summoned to the palace for an audience with HRH the Sultan today. Salehen Muhyi will have an audience tomorrow while Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi will have an audience with the Sultan on Wednesday.

Nevertheless, HRH the Sultan said he would look beyond the three names proposed by PAS. The new Selangor Menteri Besar can be any one of the Selangor State Assemblymen from Pakatan Rakyat as long as they are Malay and Muslim (meaning from PAS and PKR, of course, since the State Assemblypersons from DAP would not qualify).

This means the new Menteri Besar could be one of the three PAS State EXCO members or it could be someone else (not from Umno and DAP but most likely from PAS).

Anwar Ibrahim realises it is game over for him and that his nominee, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, is not going to become the new Selangor Menteri Besar. Furthermore, the fact that PAS does not support her nomination makes it impossible for HRH the Sultan to consider her since there is no Pakatan Rakyat consensus on her nomination.

And Anwar did say that Pakatan Rakyat works on consensus or not at all.

Anwar has called for a meeting tonight to plan PKR’s new strategy. And the new plan is to push for the dissolution of the Selangor State Assembly to make way for new state elections.

If new state elections are held it is not known if it is still going to be a one-on-one contest between Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat. It may be Barisan Nasional versus Pakatan Rakyat with just DAP and PKR minus PAS since what the PAS President said on Friday more or less ends the party’s relationship with Pakatan Rakyat. (SEE THE VIDEO HERE)

If DAP and PKR decide that PAS has stabbed them in the back then even if PAS does participate in the new Selangor state election it may have to be on a three-corner fight (or maybe even a four/five-corner fight with PSM/PRM).

There are 56 state seats — 28 Chinese seats and 28 Malay seats. For the 28 Chinese seats it would be quite straightforward (unless PSM/PRM goes in to these seats) while the three-corner fights would be more in the 28 Malay seats.

Hence this is where Umno, PKR and PAS would see a fierce fight with so many parties splitting the votes.

The alternative would be (subject to the meeting tonight) for DAP and PKR to have an electoral pact with PasMa. PasMa can be the ‘new PAS’ and then DAP can contest 20 seats (with a few Malay candidates amongst those 20) with 18 seats each for PKR and PasMa (or also 20 for PKR and 16 for PasMa).

PasMa can be the unofficial member of Pakatan Rakyat to replace PAS since PasMa is not yet a registered political party but is registered as just an association or NGO.

No doubt the PasMa candidates cannot contest the election under the PasMa banner but they can still contest as independents or under the banner of DAP or PKR. That would still make them ‘legal’ members of Pakatan Rakyat and they can form a government together with DAP and PKR.

This will more or less make PAS an independent party like PSM and PRM or a sort of third force in Malaysian politics. However, whether PAS can still win 15 or 20 seats is another matter since the seats it will be contesting would be on the basis of three-corner fights or more.

This will demolish the dream of most Malaysians who wanted to see the emergence of a two-party system in Malaysia. And this will also prove what I told Anwar in the talk in London in 2010.

What I said in 2010 in London angered Anwar and that caused us to part company and no longer regard each other as friends. However, what I said has come true. And what I said was that as long as Pakatan Rakyat continue to tidur satu bantal tapi mimpi lain-lain and keep giving excuses that theyagree to disagree (without resolving the areas of disagreement) then the Pakatan Rakyat marriage will not survive.

And the current political developments in Selangor have proven me right and have proven Anwar wrong.