THE RM50 MILLION OFFER WHICH OUTRAGED KHALID

The real reason why the Kajang Move was mooted in 2013 and then launched in January 2014 is because a certain businessman offered Anwar and the party RM50 million as an inducement for them to influence the Menteri Besar’s decision regarding a certain business deal and this outraged Khalid who refused to play ball. Hence they accused Khalid of not being a ‘team player’.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

In January 2014, the State Assemblyman for Kajang, Lee Chin Cheh, resigned. This was so that Anwar Ibrahim could contest that seat in a by-election and thereafter become a Selangor State Assemblyman.

But why does Anwar need to be a Selangor State Assemblyman? Well, according to PKR’s political strategist, Rafizi Ramli, as he said in an official statement in January this year, this is the reason why:

While Khalid Ibrahim’s administration has shown sterling performance over the last 6 years that endears him to the public, there are rooms for improvement in many areas especially given the latest dynamics in Umno.

It is an open secret that the move to remove Najib Razak has begun. As a party strategist, I cannot rule out the possibility that Najib is removed and Umno falls to the ultras led by Mahathir Mohamad’s faction.

The unscrupulous attack and schemes to take Selangor by hook or by crook will begin the moment the weak Najib is removed. Even as we speak, Umno’s cards are all too obvious in the latest round of racial and religious controversies stirred up in Selangor in the last few months.

Should Najib fall, expect a full-blown manipulation of racial and religious issues to create mistrust and frustration with the Selangor government.

That was what Rafizi said. Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is in danger of being ousted (toppled by Dr Mahathir) and when he falls Umno will then successfully take back Selangor unless Anwar is made a Selangor State Assemblyman.

But how can Anwar stop this from happening? Will Anwar be taking over as Menteri Besar?

At that time the answer they gave us was ‘no’ (but now Anwar says that this was the plan all along). They have not come to that stage where the position of the Selangor Menteri Besar needs to be discussed or considered. The plan is only to make Anwar a State Assemblyman.

But why the sudden move? This appears like a knee-jerk reaction?

It is not a sudden move, said Rafizi. This was being quietly planned behind the scenes for a few months since the second half of 2013 (that means around three or four months after the general election). In fact, negotiations with the Kajang State Assemblyman, Lee Chin Cheh, took a bit of time before an agreement was reached.

According to Lee, he said he would only resign if Anwar were going to be the one to contest that seat. And he agreed to resign only after he managed to meet Anwar to discuss this matter and get Anwar’s assurance that he (Anwar) was going to be the candidate.

This all happened in 2013 and then, in January 2014, a few months later, Lee resigned and the announcement for the ‘Kajang Move’ was made.

It was during that same period, the fourth quarter of 2013, when the Selangor State Government made its official and final offer to the water concessionaires, in November 2013 to be exact, meaning around the same time that the Kajang Move was being mooted.

It is probably purely ‘coincidental’ that the Kajang Move and the offer to the water concessionaires both happened around the same time.

Many PKR leaders, Anwar and Rafizi included, said that the Kajang Move, planned in 2013, is crucial because of the water concession issue, the Bible issue, the Kidex issue, and so on (plus because Khalid Ibrahim is not a ‘team player’).

Okay, in 2013, at the time the Kajang Move was being planned, the state had only made an offer to take over the water concessionaires. It was still being negotiated and nothing had been settled yet at the time the Kajang Move was being mooted.

Then, in January 2014, the Kajang Move was launched. But it was not until the following month, in February 2014, when the MoU on the water concessions was signed.

In other words, even if you want to consider the MoU on the water concessions as an issue to justify the Kajang Move, it did not become an issue until one month AFTER the launching of the Kajang Move. When the Kajang Move was being planned in 2013, and when it was launched in January 2014, there was no such thing as a ‘problem’ with the water concessions.

So how can one of the reasons for the Kajang Move be the water concessions when no such ‘problem’ existed yet, that is in the first place if you want to even regard it as a problem?

The next justification for the Kajang Move and another reason why Khalid needs to be ousted is because of the Bible controversy.

But the Bibles were seized in January 2014, after the Kajang Move was mooted in 2013, and it did not really become a problem until June 2014, five months later, when the Attorney-General ruled that the confiscation of the Bibles was wrong.

The so-called problem here is not regarding the confiscation of the Bibles in January because it was done according to Selangor State law. It became a ‘problem’ in June when the AG ruled that the confiscation was wrong and the state still refused to return the Bibles.

So, at the time the Kajang Move was mooted in 2013 there was no Bible controversy yet and when it was launched in January 2014 there was no legal ruling by the AG yet. So how could the Bible controversy be an issue in 2013 when the ‘issue’ did not exist yet at that time?

The Kidex issue is also being mentioned as another reason why the Kajang Move was mooted in 2013. But Kidex did not become controversial until May 2014, long after the Kajang move was mooted in 2013 and launched in January 2014.

So, what is the real reason why the Kajang Move was planned in 2013 and launched in January 2014?

The real reason why the Kajang Move was mooted in 2013 and then launched in January 2014 is because a certain businessman offered Anwar and the party RM50 million as an inducement for them to influence the Menteri Besar’s decision regarding a certain business deal and this outraged Khalid who refused to play ball. Hence they accused Khalid of not being a ‘team player’.

Anyway, what is happening in Selangor is déjà vu of what happened in Perak six year ago. In 2008, Pakatan Rakyat took over Perak and appointed a Menteri Besar from PAS, Nizar Jamaluddin. Anwar then tried to interfere in how Nizar ran the state. When Nizar told Anwar to go screw himself Anwar launched a similar ‘Kajang Move’ in Perak.

Anwar enticed Umno State Assemblyman Nasaruddin Hashim to cross over to the opposition with the promise that he would replace Nizar as the new Perak Menteri Besar. Nasaruddin crossed over but a short while later crossed back to Umno together with two PKR and one DAP State Assemblypersons.

That saw the downfall of Pakatan Rakyat in Perak. Is this going to be repeated in Selangor?