THE MAY COUP D’ÉTAT THAT FAILED

Anyway, His Highness quashed the May coup d’état and averted a crisis instead of playing along with this conspiracy and possibly allowing Umno to take back Selangor once a crisis erupts.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

PKR deputy president dropped from PKNS board

Lee Shi-Ian, TMI

The crisis between Azmin Ali and Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim appears to have escalated after Azmin was ousted from the Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS) board of directors.

Azmin, the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) deputy president, is said to have received a letter yesterday informing him of his removal.

Sinar Harian reported that although Azmin had confirmed receiving the letter, a final decision would only be made on January 20 when the PKNS board meets, chaired by Khalid.

Azmin and Khalid have long been at loggerheads over various issues, including Khalid’s appointment as Selangor Menteri Besar for a second term.

As the head of Selangor PKR, Azmin did not take kindly to Abdul Khalid’s appointment for a second term.

However, PKR’s hands are tied as both PAS and DAP have 15 seats each in the state assembly and they wanted Khalid retained as they were not prepared to accept Azmin.

Azmin previously was disgruntled when the PKR central leadership did not discuss the Selangor Menteri Besar appointment issue with the state party division.

As a result, the chaotic relationship between the Selangor state government under Khalid’s stewardship and state PKR under Azmin took a turn for the worse.

Azmin has been a fierce critic of Khalid’s administration for not spending enough on development in the state.

He also criticised Khalid for focusing more on operating expenses instead of development, including the pay rise for the Selangor legislature announced last year.

Malaysiakini reported that Khalid, who is the PKNS chairperson, had chaired two board meetings for the corporation after the 13th general election.

However, Khalid refused to clarify the position of Azmin and two other government appointees.

Instead, he sought an exco paper on the status of three appointees on the PKNS board: Azmin, Seputeh MP Teresa Kok and Cempaka state assemblyman Iskandar Abdul Samad.

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The saga of Azmin Ali being dropped from the Selangor State Economic Development Corporation (PKNS) yesterday has more to the story than what we are being told.

Of course, Suara Tian Chua a.k.a Malaysia Chronicle said that Azmin has been ‘ousted’ from PKNS and they asked whether this is a sign that Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim is going back to Umno.

This is the typical brain of those Chinaman from Suara Tian Chua a.k.a Malaysia Chronicle. When they cannot agree with what someone says or does then this is a sign that that person is going back to Umno or crossing over to the other side and whatnot.

What these people are not telling us is that in May last year, Azmin Ali launched a coup d’état that failed, mainly because His Highness the Sultan of Selangor would not go along with what His Highness considered an illegal or even unconstitutional move to oust Khalid.

Soon after the May 2013 general election, Khalid had an audience with His Highness where he presented His Highness with three letters, one each signed by the PKR President, the PAS President, and the DAP Secretary General.

All three letters unanimously endorsed Khalid Ibrahim as the Menteri Besar of Selangor.

His Highness the Sultan smiled, and then handed Khalid a letter. This letter, which was signed by the State Assemblyman for Batu Caves, Amiruddin Saari, said that the party, PKR, had agreed that Azmin Ali be appointed the new Menteri Besar of Selangor.

His Highness the Sultan was clearly quite amused to see the look of shock on Khalid’s face. According to one palace ‘source’, “Muka Khalid pucat sampai kalau toreh mukanya dengan pisau pun darah takkan keluar.” (Khalid’s face was so pale that even if you nick his face with a knife no blood would come out).

Anyway, to cut a long story short, His Highness the Sultan accepted the three party letters signed by its top leaders and rejected the Azmin Ali letter signed by the State Assemblyman who was implicated in the Selangor sand scandal a couple of years ago.

Thus the May 2013 coup d’état that Azmin had engineered failed miserably.

I am sure Umno was quiet disappointed with what His Highness the Sultan did. If His Highness had appointed Azmin instead, then Selangor would have gone into a serious crisis and this would have split Pakatan Rakyat Selangor into two with at least 31 State Assemblypersons on one side and 13 on the other (or possibly even 25 versus 19).

Anyway, His Highness quashed the May coup d’état and averted a crisis instead of playing along with this conspiracy and possibly allowing Umno to take back Selangor once a crisis erupts.

But this is not the end of the story. There is more to come. Of course, as usual, I will not reveal part 2 yet. Why spoil the fun of making you wait?