Anwar holds up well in Kajang despite Khalid-Putrajaya's WATER CONUNDRUM

KUALA LUMPUR- The run-up to the Kajang by-election is turning into a political circus for Pakatan Rakyat (PR), judging from what's happening daily under the glare of the spotlight.

Performers from within its ranks are trying to draw attention to themselves with acts that become more daring by the day as PR and Barisan Nasional (BN) edge towards the finale on March 23.

It started off with ring meister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, trying to relegate the main act in Selangor, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, to a lesser position as the latter was apparently unwilling to implicitly obey his political orders anymore.

Anwar wants to replace Khalid with someone more compliant who will play the game called politics unlike the straight-arrow bureaucrat unwilling to accommodate the exigencies of political reality.

Azmin Ali, an Anwar loyalist for years and PKR deputy president who wants to wield some real power in a state administration, fitted the bill.

As both Anwar's lieutenants engaged in posturing, Khalid upped the ante by signing a watertight water agreement with the BN federal government, something Anwar did not even know despite being state economic adviser, a largely ceremonial post given Khalid's prowess in the field.

Khalid has thrown in another bombshell by announcing that he would be fighting Azmin at the party polls.

And hence PKR, and PR by extension, find themselves in the awkward position of seeing exactly what happened in some state BN administrations in the past occurring within their own ranks.

The Khalid-Azmin spat is a clear example of PR politicians going for each other's jugular, reprising what some BN leaders did earlier which led to arch rivals losing the confidence of the people.

All in all, this is an unprecedented and totally unexpected turn of events for the loose coalition of opposition parties cobbled together by expediency at the 2008 general election.

Some say this cohesion of sorts has been achieved by the skin of their collective teeth.

The political storm within PKR is altogether laughable given the fact that the people of Selangor who gave PR the majority vote in 2008, enhancing it in last years polls, had hardly expected an imbroglio like this.

Daily the pressure builds on PKR which is embroiled in a controversy it appears to think will not affect the opposition coalition. But there is no way that PR will not be affected if PKR Selangor implodes under the countervailing pressure from within.

So much has been expected of the opposition by the people of Selangor and it is absolutely ridiculous for them to be on the brink of being let down by performers out of control in the political circus that we witness from front row seats.

It may be fortuitous thinking but if Khalid and Azmin bow out for a little while to sort out their problems, we may see a real battle royale between PR and BN uncoloured by sideshows that don't help anyone.

While it is almost a forgone conclusion that Anwar will win hands down nearly three weeks from now given his larger political profile against an unspectacular opponent, it is left to be seen in what condition PKR will find itself in after his prospective win.

Will it have won the battle but lost the war? All this appears to be pure conjecture at this point. Who knows what else can happen between now and D-Day to upset Anwar's apple cart or stabilise it to a point beyond challenge.

For the BN it will be a case of nothing lost (as Kajang is Anwar's to lose), and nothing gained (it does not stand a ghost of a chance in the by-election). -Sundaily