Deja vu, PAS doing to PKR what Umno did to PAS

PKR’s Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim (right) is hanging on to his post as Selangor menteri besar with the support of PAS, despite PKR engineering the ‘Kajang move’ to replace him. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, July 28, 2014. 

Here is the scenario. The menteri besar of a state ruled by a coalition government has lost the confidence of his own party which wants him replaced.

He refuses to resign and his party, which dominates the state assembly, passes a vote of no-confidence against him. Twenty assemblymen from his party vote him out, but 14 other
assemblymen from its partners in the coalition walk out in protest as they disagreed with his ousting.

But the menteri besar still refuses to resign and wants to dissolve the state assembly for fresh elections to be held. Chaos ensues and an emergency is declared.

No, this is not Selangor 2014, but Kelantan 1977.

The menteri besar is not Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim from PKR but Datuk Mohamad Nasir from PAS.

But the circumstances are eerily similar.

Like Khalid today, Nasir had lost the confidence of his party – PAS.

And like Khalid today, Nasir was supported not by his own party but by its coalition partners – Umno and MCA.

PAS was the victim in 1977 as its coalition partners (Umno and MCA) refused to abide by the coalition principle that the party entitled to the MB post shall have the full right to nominate the candidate of its choice.

In 2014, PKR is the victim, as PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang is doing to PKR what Umno did to his own party in 1977.

This is an irony because PAS leaders have always said that they would never forget nor forgive Umno over what it did in Kelantan 37 years ago.

It appears that memory loss is a political convenience.

Then again, maybe Hadi has not suffered any memory loss, but has decided to follow the Kelantan 1977 script in 2014 to seize the Selangor MB post from its coalition partner.

Some in PAS are advocating that their 15 assemblymen in Selangor can combine with Khalid, perhaps one more assemblyman from PKR and the 12 Umno state lawmakers to form a government of simple majority in the country's wealthiest state.

But would everyone in Selangor PAS go for it? Would they be willing to work with Umno? And would PAS follow Umno's footsteps and stick it in to PKR as Umno had done to PAS in 1977?

- TMI