Selangor’s countdown to violence: Najib vs the people

Although Selangor Menteri besar Khalid Ibrahim blames former Menteri-besar Khir Toyo for the latest impasse in the state, Khalid has, nevertheless, exhibited characteristic sangfroid throughout this sordid affair.

Khalid’s political secretary, Faekah Husin, has accused Khir of allowing appointments of the Selangor state secretary to be done by the chief secretary to the federal government, without prior consultation with the state government.

She called Khir's actions “unconstitutional” and said that the appointment of the previous incumbent, Ramli Mahmud, was also unlawful and had set a dangerous precedent.

The position of state secretary is one that has wide-ranging powers of vital administrative importance.

Perhaps, this debacle is the first of many such ‘creative stunts’ which Prime minister Najib Abdul Razak has planned, to undermine the Selangor government – the jewel in the crown of the Peninsular states.

In this, he is aided and abetted by two people. First, is Chief Secretary to the federal government Mohd Sidek Hassan, who announced Khusrin Munawi's appointment and second, is private secretary to the Sultan, Munir Bani.

Najib has clearly crossed the line by dragging the Selangor ruler into his latest machinations to gain control of Selangor.

Many have vivid memories of a smug Najib wresting off the Perak government from Pakatan. In the process, he cared little for the royal households and has tarnished the presumption that royalty is above politics.

In early December, Najib gave a morale boosting speech at the BN convention and uttered his “do or die” battle cry.

Didn’t he say that BN had to defend Putrajaya in the people’s interest and that the seat of government had to be protected from the greedy and power crazy, saying Barisan had developed the country with “blood, sweat and tears”?

Didn’t he tell us that the opposition was willing to go to any length to achieve its aims?

He said, “We are well aware that they long to take over Putrajaya” and with a hint of irony said that Pakatan was “undemocratic, anti-national, politically bankrupt and evil”.

Sadly, Najib does not see himself as the power-grabber in Selangor.

Najib later said, “…if BN cannot win, no one else can or should win.”

PAS vice-president Mahfuz Omar said that Najib’s dangerous remarks showed the prime minister’s desperation to cling onto power and wondered if Najib was planning a coup d’état.

PAS MP, Kamaruddin Jaafar, said, “This shows that the PM does not believe in the concept of elections. He is saying that he won’t let others win if BN loses. This is a slap to voters.”

Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad demanded that Najib explain the meaning of his remarks, which Khalid claimed disguised a veiled threat and said, “… if he (Najib) doesn’t give a response, it shows that he is not willing to let go of power.”

Najib has maintained an eerie silence, and perhaps, the opposition can now take comfort in his belated response, to the questions which were previously left unanswered.

Perhaps, we should take note that this stalemate is the first of many tricks up Najib’s sleeve.

The Sultan’s private secretary, Munir, managed to thwart Khalid’s efforts to seek an audience with the Sultan, by saying he was unavailable, and that he had gone overseas; however, it was alleged that HRH was sighted, in town, bowling, whilst tensions simmered in the state.

Then, after weeks of trying, the Pakatan mentri besar finally obtained a royal audience.

At a press conference on 3 January 2011, Khalid said, “The Sultan is of the view that he has neither the authority to approve or reject any candidate suggested by the Suruhan Perkhidmatan Awam or Public Services Commission. This is because the laws were amended in 1993 during a constitutional crisis. The state laws were changed and centralised to reinforce the federal government’s hold on the state”.

Khalid also said, “I have sent a letter to the chief secretary to the federal government Sidek Hassan yesterday to discuss the matter of the appointment of the state secretary because we want the matter to be resolved in order to allow the state some say in the appointment of top state administrators.”

The following day, the Sultan's private secretary Munir Bani, slammed the mentri besar for making “inaccurate and misleading” statements and contradicted what Khalid had said the previous day.

Neither will back down. The Mentri Besar has already stated that he preferred to exhaust all avenues for resolving this crisis. He has been warned by legal experts to ascertain which public agency had approved Khusrin's appointment as the legality and success of his court case, is dependent on this, amongst other things.

Munir however insists that an assembly sitting cannot be called without the Sultan’s express approval, in direct contradiction to the stand adopted by the Speaker Teng Chang Khim.

According to Teng, Standing Order 10(3) states that the Speaker can call for an emergency state assembly meeting if he finds that the reason given by the menteri besar is "of public importance".

The battle is set for Najib versus the people. - Malaysia Chronicle