All eyes on Selangor

THE Pakatan Rakyat (PR) has not made it a secret that it intends to capture more seats in Johor, Sarawak and Sabah as its ticket into Putrajaya. Needing just 40-odd more seats in the 222-seat parliament to form the federal government - compared to what it had at the close of the last term – the Opposition coalition is keen on wresting these three states from under the noses of the Barisan Nasional (BN).

But even as their sight turn to these states, they would do well to grow eyes at the back of their heads to take a hard look at Selangor – as the BN is equally determined to take back the country's richest state which was wrested by PR in the March 2008 general election.

Merely relying on leftover sentiments from 2008 will not be enough to defend this proverbial "goose that lays the golden eggs", as constituents wilt under water cuts and drown in uncollected rubbish – no thanks to political one-upmanship between the BN federal government and PR state government.

Add some personal scandals and attacks on leaders from both sides, Selangor voters will find themselves stuck in a rut as political fodder becomes more important than actual development.

Chief among the complaints is the water issue, which has seen thousands without water for weeks – not due to drying taps but to an inability by both sides to reach an agreement which would ultimately benefit the people.

Furthermore, even as the nation embarks on the privatisation of waste collection, Selangor (and other Pakatan states) have remained adamant in not being part of the exercise. This received mixed response as many residential areas suffer from sporadic waste collection services.

Prime Minister and BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak has been compelled to take up both the chairmanship of the state BN liaison body and make himself the state election director with no clear local leader to helm the state should they take over after the 13th general election (GE13).

He said BN will recapture Selangor in GE13 as it had undergone a "paradigm shift by prioritising the people" after learning their lesson from the drubbing in 2008.

"This time, we have doubled our efforts with priority given to serving the people," he had said. "We also have injected confidence among the voters that we can accommodate the changes they want to see in the country."

Since assuming office, Pakatan leaders in the state have found themselves facing both the challenge of governing a big state as well as fending off allegations of personal scandals.

For example, Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim has been accused of graft involving buying cars and cows for his constituents in Bandar Tun Razak.

Abdul Khalid further found himself contending with internal critics – chief among them PAS' former exco Datuk Hasan Ali – who claimed that proselytisation of Muslims is rampant in the state.

This drew concerns over religious harmony in Selangor, already put to the test following irresponsible actions of minor church bombings and "cow head" protests by quarters who claimed to champion the sanctity of Islam.

However, the BN was not spared its own troubles, not least the conviction of former Mentri Besar Muhammad Khir Toyo for abuse of public office resulting in his sacking as opposition leader in the state assembly.

Sources have also indicated that the fight for Selangor within the BN side is fraught with internal conflict. Selangor BN coordinator and state deputy election director Datuk Seri Mohd Zin Mohamed and state Umno deputy liaison chairman Datuk Seri Noh Omar are rarely seen at events together.

Khir's successor as the state assembly's opposition head, Datuk Satim Diman, on his first day of the state assembly seating declared he would expose the state government's corruption – only to "disappear" halfway through the assembly seating the next day and the rest of the seating.

Even former councillors in Selangor were not spared. Last year, a protest by MIC over the controversial Dolomite Park project in Batu Caves backfired when it was revealed that the project was approved by the then-BN state government. What followed were various finger-pointing by both sides, culminating in the project getting the boot in the end, to the chagrin of the developers.

With both sides of the fence jousting to knock each other off, Selangor voters are now faced with a challenge to decide if either side has done enough to propel the state forward, or if they are both too busy squabbling and jostling for political mileage to advance the nation's premier economic state to greater heights.

-thesundaily