ANWAR’S KAJANG MOVE HANGS IN THE AIR

Today the Sultan of Selangor will meet sitting Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim and the Sultan will decide whether to solve the Selangor state assembly or to choose a new Mentri Besar.

This has to be done because Khalid has lost support in the assembly and he has to vacate the post regardless if the Sultan likes him.

But until then, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is in a fixed – PAS has declared its stand that the party would not commit on supporting Datin Seri Wan Azizah Ismail as Mentri Besar and it would leave the matter to the sole prerogative of the Sultan.

PAS’ stand has put Anwar’s Kajang Move to a halt and hanging - as Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) cannot get the Sultan’s blessing without a convincing reason for the change in Mentri Besar post.

Despite the claims that the party has 30 assemblymen behind Wan Azizah, PAS Hulu Klang assemblyman Shaari Sungib had already said he supported the removal of sitting Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim but he did not support Wan Azizah to replace him.

This means Wan Azizah has 29 assemblymen supporting her, if PAS Morib assemblyman Hasnul Baharuddin had truly signed the statutory declaration (SD).

With PAS non-committal stand on Wan Azizah, Anwar’s plan may not see the ‘daylight’ as the Sultan may just decide to disolve the assembly to end the Mentri Besar saga.

The Sultan is not expected to make dcision based on a two seats majority which is considered doubtful given that PAS is non-committal even with two of its 15 assemblymen are said to be backing Anwar’s plan.

As the Sultan’s decision will only be known soon after Khalid has an audience with him in the afternoon, the sitting Mentri Besar has the chance to explain about the SDs and the situation as he sees it.

Unlike PAS, Khalid’s advantage is that he has the opportunity to present to the Sultan the scenario and then leave the decision to the Sultan.

Even then, PAS’ non-committal stand is an indication to the Sultan of the real situation and what kind of action he should take.

PAS felt it got ‘played out’ when it decided that two names (Wan Azizah and PKR deputy president Azmin Ali) should be submitted to the Sultan but the leaders of the pact had instead decided to submit only Wan Azizah’s name.

Anwar gave the reason that Azmin did not want to be nominated and did not want the nomination.
But the ‘cold war’ between PAS veteran fundamentalists and Anwar is an open secret as reflected in several occasions and the latest at PKR’s annual convention where PAS president Datuk Abdul Hadi Awang and secretary-general Datuk Mustapha Ali were absent.

PAS was represented by the party deputy president Mohamed Sabu instead while DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang was present.

In fact, for the coming Pengkalan Kubor state seat by-election in Kelantan, PAS and PKR are already locking horns as both parties claim to have better chance of winning.

Whatever the outcome is, Anwar’s anxiety wil end after the Sultan makes his decision.