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Monday, August 18, 2014

The Selangor MB impasse: winners and losers

The Selangor menteri besar crisis appears to be ending, but the ramifications will continue as players emerge from the political stalemate. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, August 18, 2014.The Selangor menteri besar crisis appears to be ending, but the ramifications will continue as players emerge from the political stalemate. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, August 18, 2014.
So now that PAS has come around to accept that Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim needs to be removed as the Selangor menteri besar, it is safe to conclude that the long-drawn and painful Selangor crisis is nearly over.
But the fallout from this saga will haunt the players for some time. The Malaysian Insider looks at who has emerged well or with its image soiled from the political stalemate in the country’s richest state.
Winners
Selangor Umno has been in the dumps since GE13. They are leaderless, rudderless and clueless. That is why Putrajaya has been wary of a snap election being called in the state.
But guess what? At least the party led by Noh Omar has not been in the news in the past eight weeks for the wrong reasons. Out of sight and out of mind is not a bad option for a party that has some serious rebuilding work to do.
Also, the Selangor crisis has unfortunately hardened racial fault lines in the state with more Malays backing Khalid and the vast majority of non-Malays supporting his ouster.
Now name a political party that thrives on playing the race card and posturing as the saviour of Malays. Expect Umno and its subsidiaries Perkasa and Isma to go full throttle to try and soak up Malay support.
2. Supporters of coalition politics
In the run-up to Sunday's meeting of the PAS central working committee, PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang and the hardliners appeared to take the position that the PAS vote carried more weight than the combined votes of DAP and PKR. Had they persisted with this position, Pakatan Rakyat (PR) would have become like Barisan Nasional (BN) where Umno decides everything.
One political party equals one vote is an important principle because underlying this concept is the idea that all Malaysians are equal. For now, at least, this principle of coalition politics is still alive in PR.
3. Datuk Seri Najib Razak
Hardly anyone noticed that the prime minister – supposedly in mourning like the rest of the country over the MH17 tragedy – was out of the country on a long break in Paris and Rome with family and well-heeled businessmen.
The opposition was too busy crossing swords with each other to even notice that come rain or shine, Najib's overseas breaks run like clockwork.
The Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to requests for information on Najib's holiday, so confident was it that no one would notice. Score one for Najib.
Losers
1. Pakatan Rakyat
It appears that a bullet has been dodged and that the coalition will survive. But PKR, DAP and PAS should not deceive themselves. This fight has cost the coalition, dearly.
Some early survey results show that support for PR has dived, with voters stunned by fundamental differences between PAS on one side and DAP-PKR on the other.
The new menteri besar and the PR state government have three or four years to regain support and make good on their promise of turning the state into a showcase of what could happen if the coalition takes over Putrajaya. The clock has started ticking.
At a more fundamental level, questions remain. Will Abdul Hadi Awang get over his angst? Will he accept Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as the head of PR? Will PR survive the incarceration of Anwar?
2. Khalid Ibrahim
He could have gone with some measure of dignity. But no, he had to make a scene and find out the harsh truth: he has been completely rejected by his comrades. This is much worse than a captain being stripped of his captaincy or a CEO being asked to leave by the board of directors.
This is a political leader being told by people with whom he had once shared the trenches that they no longer trust him to lead them into battle.
Some of his aides say that he may join another party and has not discounted forming a new party. That is his right. What is not within his right is staying a day longer in a position he no longer owns.
Walk away now.
3. PAS
Mohamad Sabu, Datuk Husam Musa and the other moderates and professionals may have emerged winners from this battle with Hadi and the hardliners, but Sunday was only a cameo.
From now till next year's party elections, there will be an uneasy coexistence between these two groups. It is inaccurate and simplistic to label the moderates and hardliners as factions. They are not.
They represent two competing ideologies, one more accepting of the diversity of Malaysia and compatible with concepts of gender equality, fairness and justice, and the other still tinged with ideas of racial and religious supremacy.
The Selangor crisis has exposed the battle lines in PAS and cast some serious doubts on Hadi's ability to be an inclusive leader.
4. Malaysians
It is always there, not too far away from the surface. We are talking about race relations. And the Selangor crisis has taken its toll on the already dismal state of relations between Malays and non-Malays.
Some preliminary survey results suggest that voters viewed this episode through the prism of race. And why not? Some parties were ready to paint their struggle as one to defend Malay rights and Islam.
Damn the politicians in Malaysia. How they love to cover their avarice and lust for power and influence with talk about defending the rights of people they hardly know or respect.
5. Anwar and PKR
This was not Anwar's finest hour. There was no clockwork strategy or smooth "Kajang Move". Instead, the move to remove Khalid should be dissected and studied by politicians and political science students as "How Not To..."
PKR has a good collection of young leaders and they would do well to remember that oratory and charisma is only half of it. It is just as important to be dedicated and competent at the less glamorous stuff such as building up strong branches and divisions and having deep ties with coalition partners.
Some observations
1. The Sultan of Selangor
The ruler of the state has a great opportunity to show that he is an honest broker and someone who cares about fairness, not personalities. It is as clear as day that Khalid does not have the support of PR and has to go. This is the law of the land as stated by the Federal Court.
2.  Lim Kit Siang and some other DAP leaders
The late Karpal Singh would be proud of the way his friends battled to keep alive certain principles dear to him, namely equality of all in a coalition and speaking up without fear of losing political support.
Kit Siang called it like he saw it from day one. Behind the scenes, he gave Anwar a tough time and even tried to play the role of mediator between Hadi and Anwar, in the process putting up with a torrent of drivel from the PAS president.
But if something is valuable and worth salvaging, then it is something worth fighting for. Kit Siang must still believe that Pakatan Rakyat is worth battling for.
- TMI

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