DEAR TUANKU, AZMIN SHOULD BE REPLACED

And Azmin should be summoned to the Palace and told in no uncertain terms that he serves at the pleasure of the crown. And if he feels he cannot be subservient to the Palace then he should immediately resign and someone else can take over as the new Selangor Menteri Besar. Or has Azmin forgotten that his oath of office included taat setia to the Sultan?

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Dear Tuanku, against the backdrop of Sabah for Sabahans and Sarawak for Sarawakians, plus the sentiments in other states with Sultans — such as Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah and so on — it is time that Selangor no longer be treated like a prostitute where anyone can come in and screw the state.

In the other Malaysian states it would be unthinkable for someone outside the state to even contest the election in that state let alone become its Chief Executive. In some states, for example, say, Terengganu, if someone from Besut were to contest in Kemaman, or vice versa, there will be chaos. Not only is thesemangat negeri very strong, so is the semangat kedaerahan.

No doubt Penang will always be quoted as an example. But then Penang is an exception to the rule mainly because it was one of the three Straits Settlements states alongside Melaka and Singapore, plus those three states do not have Rulers. So the semangat negeri or semangat kedaerahan is not that crucial a factor.

Actually, even the DAP Penang Chinese are not happy that Lim Guan Eng, an outsider, is their Chief Minister. The only thing is in 2008 DAP was too shocked that they had won Penang that Guan Eng managed to ‘squeeze in’ without too much protest. They were so happy that they had won Penang without worrying about a ‘small matter’ like who should be the Chief Minister.

But then by the 2013 general election that began to change. The DAP Penang Chinese were beginning to feel that a local should be the Penang Chief Minister. However, because DAP is run like the Communist Party of China, no one really dares say anything, although there are murmurs of unhappiness below the surface.

In fact, Tuanku, I was informed that it was the DAP Penang people themselves who leaked the information regarding Guan Eng’s house that has now landed him in trouble. Basically the DAP Penang people were trying to assassinate Guan Eng but not make it seem too obvious. It is like what Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Muhyiddin Yassin did to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak when they gave those 1MDB documents to foreign publications and blogs.

For the sake of public appearance, though, they give the impression that the DAP Penang people are all united behind Guan Eng. But the truth is many hope he will be convicted so that he will be forced to step down and then this time a local Penang Chinese from DAP will take over as the new Chief Minister.

DAP Penang knows that if they kick Guan Eng out, like what PKR and DAP did to Khalid Ibrahim in Selangor, it might backfire and might turn the voters away from DAP. So better they allow the government to finish off Guan Eng and then DAP Penang will not only be able to replace him with a local Penang Chinese but can also exploit the whole issue as well and capitalise on the sympathy factor.

Selangor appears to be the only state that any Tom, Dick and Harry can contest a seat in the state and become its Menteri Besar. This was never so in the past and before this the Menteri Besar has always been a local anak Selangor. Why is it now, since Pakatan took over the state in 2008, that any Tom, Dick and Harry can sit in the Menteri Besar’s seat? Will they allow this in any other state with Sultans or even in Sabah and Sarawak?

The fact that Pakatan’s candidates who are qualified are not eligible to become the Menteri Besar, while those who are eligible are not qualified, is not your fault, Tuanku. That happened in Perak in 2008 and Pakatan should have learned their lesson by now. And that was why a DAP and/or PKR State Assemblyman could not become the Perak Menteri Besar and that job had to be given to a PAS State Assemblyman instead, even though PAS had the least number of seats in the Perak State Assembly.

In the next general election in 2018 Pakatan is going to make sure that they no longer face this same problem. I was told this time DAP is going to field a number of Malay-Muslim candidates so that if they happen to win more seats than PKR and PAN in the Selangor State Assembly then a DAP man can become the new Selangor Menteri Besar. But we have to make sure, Tuanku, that this DAP Malay-Muslim State Assemblyman is an anak Selangor.

And this must apply to EXCO Members as well. No doubt the Palace may not be able to decide who gets to contest the general election. But at least the Palace can decide who do not become EXCO Members and the Selangor Menteri Besar. They must all be anak Selangor and there must be no two ways about it.

I mean PKR is even calling you a terrorist, Tuanku, just because Islam comes under the Ruler. I really do not know if they want the DAP Chinese or PKR Christians to decide on issues related to Islam. Maybe Pakatan would want to appoint a Chinese, Indian or non-Muslim to become the new EXCO Member in charge of Islam in Selangor.

It is now time to show the opposition that the state Rulers are not rubber stamp Rulers whose only job is to give out awards and titles every year during the birthday celebrations. If not then the cost to maintain the Monarchy is a total waste of money. The people must be shown that the Monarchy is a functional institution and serves a purpose.

And Azmin should be summoned to the Palace and told in no uncertain terms that he serves at the pleasure of the crown. And if he feels he cannot be subservient to the Palace then he should immediately resign and someone else can take over as the new Selangor Menteri Besar. Or has Azmin forgotten that his oath of office included taat setia to the Sultan?