KHALID IBRAHIM CAN STILL BE AN INDEPENDENT MENTERI BESAR

It will therefore be in the interest of PAS to not support the DAP-PKR move to oust Khalid. Let them try because even if they succeed the beneficiary will be PAS and not PKR. So it is in the interest of PAS to not join the move against Khalid when such a move would court the displeasure of His Royal Highness the Sultan.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

“Has the Kajang Move, the brainchild of PKR strategist Rafizi Ramli to save Selangor from Umno by toppling Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, become increasingly moot?” asked The Malaysian Insider today.

“Even though people say the Kajang Move was a failure because Khalid is still there, it achieved its purpose, which was to create the option (of having him replaced),” said Rafizi.

“And I think the public opinion is questioning Khalid now more than ever, and have come to see the Kajang Move was a necessary step. So I think Khalid has to take heed of public sentiment.”

READ MORE HERE

So, what was denied almost half-a-year ago has now been confirmed by Rafizi Ramli himself. The objective of the Kajang Move was to oust Khalid Ibrahim and replace him with Anwar Ibrahim. So whatMalaysia Today said then is true after all.

And did Malaysia Today not say that whenever something is denied in Malaysia it always proves true in the end? And the more you deny it the more it is true.

Today, Khalid lost his Kuala Selangor division chief’s post to S. Manickavasagam. I will bet you any amount of money that Khalid’s detractors will insist that this is the final ‘signal’ that Khalid must resign. If he cannot even get the support of his own division how can he stay on as Menteri Besar?

My grandfather, Raja Sir Tun Uda Raja Muhammad was the second Menteri Besar of Selangor from July 1949 to March 1953. He was not an Umno member or a member of any political party. (Before that he was Malaya’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom).

This was during the reign of Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah ibni al-Marhum Sultan Ala’eddin Suleiman Shah (the present Sultan’s grandfather), the seventh Sultan of Selangor from 14th September 1945 to 1st September 1960, who took the throne soon after the end of World War Two.

In March 1953, Othman Mohamad, an Umno member, took over as the third Menteri Besar of Selangor.

In September 1954, my grandfather, who was still not an Umno member, was reappointed the Selangor Menteri Besar for another year and then in 1957, after Merdeka, he was appointed the first Governor of Penang.

So you see, my grandfather, who was not a member of any political party, was Selangor Menteri Besar at the time of the present Selangor Sultan’s grandfather. And that was not an issue.

PKR says Khalid does not have the support of the people of Selangor. Now they can even say he does not have the support of his own division.

But which ‘people’ are they talking about? The Selangor ‘people’? The PKR ‘people’? The Pakatan Rakyat ‘people’? The PKR Kuala Selangor division ‘people’?

It is not these ‘people’ who matter. The ‘people’ who matter are the ‘palace people’. As long as His Royal Highness the Sultan is happy with Khalid and feels that Khalid is doing a good job and is serving the interests of Selangor and is good for the people of Selangor that is all that matters.

If PKR or Pakatan Rakyat is unhappy that Khalid is still Menteri Besar then they should not channel their anger at Khalid. They should instead channel their anger at His Royal Highness the Sultan.

They should not bother to organise anti-Khalid demonstrations in front of Khalid’s office. They should instead organise anti-Sultan demonstrations in front of His Royal Highness the Sultan’s palace. They should not bother to tell Khalid to resign. They should tell His Royal Highness the Sultan to remove Khalid.

The problem, of course, is that His Royal Highness the Sultan cannot remove Khalid. Only Khalid can remove Khalid. And if Khalid refuses to remove himself as Menteri Besar then Pakatan Rakyat must move for a motion of no confidence in the Selangor State Assembly and make sure that at least 28 of the 55 State Assemblypersons vote against Khalid. (It is 55 and not 56 because the Speaker cannot vote unless it is a tie and you need a casting vote).

However, if they get 14 votes from DAP (minus the Speaker) and 13 from PKR (minus the Menteri Besar) that makes only 27 and not 28 (unless they can get one more vote from PAS — which is not sure yet). Alternatively, they can try to get another vote from Barisan Nasional (which has 12 seats).

Okay, assuming one more from PAS (or Umno) votes with the 27 from DAP and PKR and they get the majority vote of no confidence that they seek, Khalid can always request that the Sultan dissolve the Selangor State Assembly and fresh state elections be held.

Alternatively, His Royal Highness the Sultan can appoint a new Menteri Besar from the next largest party in the Selangor State Assembly. And this would have to be PAS. So the next Menteri Besar to replace Khalid would be a State Assemblyperson from PAS.

In fact, His Royal Highness the Sultan can appoint a Menteri Besar plus a Deputy Menteri Besar both from PAS. So PAS will now control the Selangor Menteri Besar’s office while DAP will be the Speaker and zilch for PKR.

It will therefore be in the interest of PAS to not support the DAP-PKR move to oust Khalid. Let them try because even if they succeed the beneficiary will be PAS and not PKR. So it is in the interest of PAS to not join the move against Khalid when such a move would court the displeasure of His Royal Highness the Sultan.

Can you now see how politics is played? And Khalid has calculated all his moves very carefully. So he needs not bother about resigning. He needs not resign even if PKR sacks him from the party. He can still remain an independent Menteri Besar. And if it becomes impossible for him to remain as Menteri Besar he can always make sure that none of Anwar’s ‘people’ takes over as Menteri Besar and instead someone from PAS does.

Anyone would like to place a bet on this one? I could do with some extra money to help pay the RM20,000 a month cost to maintain Malaysia Today just so that all you people can get to read the news free-of-charge.