KUALA LUMPUR: The question whether Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim will continue as the Selangor Menteri Besar or will be dropped has been finally answered when Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) nominated Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as Abdul Khalid’s successor.
The rumour mill on a new Menteri Besar started going on overdrive much earlier after Dr Wan Azizah’s husband and PKR defacto head Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim attempted to contest in the Kajang by election on March 23.
Anwar’s attempt to get into the Selangor state assembly and possibly take over the post of Menteri Besar was derailed following a court ruling on his sodomy appeal, thus paving the way for Dr Wan Azizah to contest and win the seat.
In the meantime PKR leaders continued clamouring for a change in the Selangor leadership while Abdul Khalid stood his ground.
And it appears that the internal resentment against Khalil has reached a crisis point that even the Malaysia Airlines MH17 tragedy could not delay the change in the Menteri Besar.
Yesterday, PKR finally nominated its president Dr Wan Azizah to replace the embattled Abdul Khalid as the next Selangor Menteri Besar.
Abdul Khalid has been the Selangor Menteri besar since 2008.
The decision was announced by Anwar during a press conference at the party headquarters here after the party’s central committee meeting.
However, Dr Wan Azizah’s nomination has to be sanctioned by the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leadership.
A senior political science lecturer with Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) branch campus in Dungun, Terengganu, Che Hamdan Che Mohd Razali pointed out the change of Menteri Besar is due to PKR’s internal crisis in Selangor.
“This include the attempts by someone within the party to usurp the post of Menteri Besar and I see the excuse that Abdul Khalid is being dropped because he failed to defend his Kuala Selangor PKR head post being no more than a ploy. I see that Abdul Khalid has administered Selangor well.
“DAP and PAS should not follow blindly PKR in deciding Selangor’s direction. Dr Wan Azizah is only a state assemblywoman in Selangor and the president of PKR but not the head of any PKR division in the state. This is an illogical excuse and unacceptable,” he told Bernama here, yesterday.
At the 13th General Election in 2013, the PR made up of the DAP-PAS-PKR pact won 44 of the 56 Selangor state assembly seats with PKR winning 14 of the seats, while PAS and DAP each has15 seats. BN is only left with 12 seats.
Based on the latest developments, Che Hamdan said it was obvious that nepotism and cronyism has reared its ugly head in PKR.
“Dr Wan Azizah’s nomination as the Selangor MB appears to have denied the right of PAS and DAP to voice out who is more qualified to lead the state government and it appeared that the post of the Menteri Besar belonged to PKR.
“This is not something new. Just see the party hierarchy, who is on top and who is down,” he pointed out.
Dr Wan Azizah is often viewed as a ‘stooge’ within PKR with her husband, Anwar being the one running the show.
If her nomination is consented by the palace and receives wholehearted support from other elected assembly members, she will become the first woman Menteri Besar in Selangor and Malaysia.
Asked on this historic development, Che Hamdan said from the political perspective it is a progressive development.
“Even before this she had made her mark as the first woman to head a political party in Malaysia,” he said. — Bernama