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Wednesday, July 9, 2014

The knives are being sharpened for Khalid

It took only a year for Khalid to go from hero to zero
khalid_pakatan_300By Baradan Kuppusamy
PETALING JAYA: A year ago Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim was a hero but today senior leaders of all three Pakatan Rakyat coalition parties – PKR, DAP and PAS – are demanding  his resignation.
The Selangor Mentri Besar led the Pakatan Rakyat coalition to a sterling victory in the 2013 general election retaining Selangor with an even bigger majority.
Led by him, the Pakatan Rakyat coalition, won eight more seats in the Selangor Legislative Assembly compared with its performance in the 2008 general election.
He was hailed as a saviour with all three coalition partners endorsing him again for the Mentri Besar post for a second term and without any hassle.
But today many mid-level operators in the Pakatan Rakyat are demanding that Khalid go and rumours of his resignation are frequent with  reporters even hanging outside the State exco meetings or camped outside the Selangor palace for any hard news of leadership changes.
It is said that with Khalid gone, newly minted Kajang state assemblywoman Dr. Wan Azizah, who is also the wife of Pakatan Rakyat supremo Anwar Ibrahim, would take over as the Selangor Mentri Besar.
Azmin Ali, the Bukit Antarabangsa  assemblyman has also been eying for the post, but that has been from day one, not recent.
So what then has brought a sudden change in the fortunes of Khalid that the demands for him to leave are mounting ,  when only a year ago, he was the darling of the Pakatan Rakyat coalition, especially with the DAP.
The open demands are clouding Pakatan Rakyat’s political chances and shows it is divided over Khalid when it takes pride in showing a united face.
The demands for his resignation however does not come from the head honchos of the three political parties but from their underlings.
People like Ronnie Liu, Charles Santiago, Mohd Ariff Sabri and Jeff Ooi, all from the DAP, have been suddenly criticising Khalid and his policies.
On the PKR side, the call for his resignation is more vocal with Badrul Hisham leading the pack while the PAS side is led by several lower level leaders with its state commissioner Iskandar Abdul Samad trying to keep above the fray.
While the underlings are making the demands for Khalid’s resignation, it does not mean that the top party leaders don’t want Khalid to go too.
The second echelon leaders making the demands are doing so with the permission and blessing of the top leaders.
It is unthinkable otherwise.
Why are they ganging up against Khalid who is admired for his clean, people-centric but often plodding administration.
His detractors point to his handling or lack of it, of the state’s water crisis as one reason against him.
The way he handled the Bible issue is atrocious, they say, with its return now ending up in the courts.
It is still hurting Khalid and his administration and the DAP is furious with him, over the whole Bible issue.
Khalid’s support for the hated Kidex highway is another, they say.
The millions he has saved for Selangor but refuses to use to further Pakatan Rakyat goals is another sore point that is keenly felt.
But above all, the “Kajang Move” that brought Dr. Wan Azizah into the state assembly, needs a justification and a rationale, says Khalid’s critics.
Why bring her all the way from Penang  where she was in near retirement, to Kajang and help her win the seat and not let her become the Selangor Mentri Besar?
Whatever the reasons,  speculation is rife that Khalid’s days are now numbered.
Even his diehard supporters like the Bukit Lanchang assemblywoman Elizabeth Wong, is said to have abandoned him.
Khalid however is adamant and says he is staying put.
How the tussle will play out is anybody’s guess but Pakatan Rakyat is shooting themselves in the foot, putting their electoral chances in Selangor in grave danger.

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