Anwar’s move to contain powerful Azmin, keep party in order

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This article was earlier published in TheAntDaily.com on 9/2/2014

News of Kajang state assemblyman Lee Chin Cheh’s resignation from the seat he won in the May 5 general election surprised everyone.

But before they could recover from that shock, another bombshell was dropped by PKR with the announcement that its adviser and parliamentary Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has been picked to contest the seat vacated by Lee.

As expected, immediately after Anwar’s candidacy for the Kajang by-election was announced, PKR’s move received a chorus of condemnations from Umno and the other Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties, namely MCA and Gerakan.

So far, the strongest criticisms of the “Kajang Move” have come from Umno leaders. BN chairman and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak reportedly said that PKR should not involve him in the party’s internal feud and that BN was not interested in PKR’s Kajang tactics.

However, in conflict with Najib’s views, other Umno leaders had started moving into the state constituency to commence their campaign rounds unofficially. MCA, which has traditionally contested the seat, has also voiced its intention to do so again, in do-or-die attempt since MCA had lost all in Selangor in May 5 general election.

So, what really prompted the PKR top leadership to ask one of its assemblymen to resign and pave the way for the party boss to officially step into the most industrialised state in the country?

Well, it is an open secret that the factional tussle between PKR deputy president Azmin Ali and Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim has intensified to the extent that it could cost PKR the entire state in the next general election.

The fact is that Azmin, in his capacity as the Selangor PKR chief, wields tremendous power from the top right down to the grassroots level. Politically speaking, Azmin is in a perfect position and if he were to become menteri besar he might be too powerful and even eclipse his boss Anwar.

On the other hand, Khalid lacks the kind of political and grassroots support that his rival has been enjoying. Khalid is lucky to be appointed the menteri besar twice, though he has all the stature to be one. He has been governing the state government professionally and efficiently, leaving his rivals and the state opposition (Umno) with nothing much to say to attack his administration.

In reality, Azmin wanted to use the top job in the state to maintain his hold on his pool of loyalists and supporters, while Khalid wants to run the state government professionally. Politics had led to the squandering of the state’s coffers during Umno’s reign prior to 2008, and Khalid would not want to see a repeat of that by PKR.

In fact, Azmin’s frequent ambush on the Khalid administration had also caused the menteri besar to lose focus in state affairs on several occasions, something which Anwar saw as rather damaging. To calm the entire situation, the opposition leader has no other option but to lower his national stature to step into Selangor officially, whether Azmin or Khalid liked it or not.

Selangor is one of the two wealthiest and most industrialised states which are governed by Pakatan Rakyat. The other state is Penang which is helmed by DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng as the state’s chief minister. PKR cannot afford to lose Selangor as it is the crown jewel of Pakatan in its quest for the federal government seat.

Apart from being a fire fighter to the Selangor PKR’s factional tussles, Anwar also realises that he needs some kind of platform on governance in order to shine and show the voters what he could do to take Putrajaya in the next general election. His move into the Selangor hierarchy will also help to reignite the people’s interests in the PKR adviser.

Yes, some of us would still remember Anwar was the best finance minister that Malaysia ever had because he never had a deficit budget under his care, but all those good old days had been erased since his sacking by the then prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

As such, Anwar needs a notable office (Selangor is the nearest to Putrajaya, the richest and most powerful state in the country) as a launch pad for Pakatan’s quest to capture Putrajaya. Otherwise he would be known only for his numerous court appearances and street protests rather than as a prime minister hopeful.

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