Spiralling out of control?
INSIGHT by JOCELINE TAN
Speculation of people preparing to jump ship in Selangor has led to talk that the state administration is about to follow the way of Perak.
THE office of Selangor Speaker Teng Chang Khim looks out onto the undulating landscape of Shah Alam.
Teng himself was a picture of confidence. He has come a long way from being a DAP firebrand to Speaker of the Selangor Legislative Assembly, where his years as an assemblyman and lawyer have come into use.
He looked sheepishly when teased about his plush office. Several years ago, when still in the opposition, he had objected so strongly to the cost of the new Legislative Assembly wing that the then administration shaved it from RM70mil to RM50mil.
Changed scenario: The happy smiles here are now a thing of the past. Teng (left) and Khalid (second from left) are still chummy but there has been intense speculation that Badrul (standing) is being courted by the other side while Hasan has been behaving like an opposition member in his own state government.
Now, in one of those supreme ironies, he is the beneficiary of the swank facility.
The view beyond the office was picture perfect – serene blue skies, puffs of snow-white clouds and lots of greenery.
But as everyone knows, it has been anything but serene in the Pakatan Rakyat state administration in recent months.
There is open sniping among some Pakatan assemblymen and the air is filled with talk of crossovers to the Barisan Nasional. There has even been speculation that the state government may fall.
The latest issue of Selangor kini, the state newsletter, more or less acknowledges the situation because its front page report declares that “Rakyat bersama kerajaan Selangor” (the people are with the Selangor government).
Are things about to spiral out of control?
Some say three assemblymen are about to jump ship, two from PKR and one from PAS. The erratic behaviour of PKR’s Port Klang assemblyman Badrul Hisham Abdullah has singled him out as one of those who may jump.
Others go so far as to claim that up to eight people will cross over, a move that will bring the ratio between Pakatan and Barisan from 36 vs 20 to an even match of 28 vs 28.
No holds barred: The book 50 Suspicions About A Man Named Anwar Ibrahim attacks the credentials of the Opposition Leader.
“There’s no worry, the Selangor government is okay,” said Teng, one of DAP’s leading orators and a sought-after speaker at party do’s. The evening before the interview, he told a DAP dinner in Kulai, Johor, that if the state government was so unstable, he would not be going around the country giving speeches.
He pointed out that even if eight assemblymen abandoned Pakatan, the Barisan would still be short of five men.
The reason: At the last State Legislative Assembly sitting, five Barisan assemblymen, including Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo, were suspended.
Dr Khir will be out of action for 12 months and the rest for six months. This should give Pakatan some breathing space.
“They are creating all this talk about being toppled to keep their own people from running away,” said Dr Khir.
The former Mentri Besar is a sort of favourite villain for the Pakatan politicians in Selangor. They blame him for almost everything that goes wrong. At last count, he was blamed as the mastermind behind a conspiracy to bring down the Government using the MACC as his tool.
“They have suspended me and still they are hunting me down, accusing me of this and that. Am I really that powerful?” he said.
He also denied having anything to do with two books which have mysteriously appeared in parts of Selangor.
One book is an outright attack on Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in a style reminiscent of the 50 Dalil publication that had preceded the ex-deputy prime minister’s downfall.
The other, a slimmer volume, is a smear attempt at Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, accusing him of failing to safeguard Malay interests.
However, the insider information in the second book has led to suspicions that it was engineered not by Dr Khir but someone within Pakatan – or what some called a “snake in the grass”.
Far left: An anonymous publication accuses the Selangor Mentri Besar of having betrayed the Malay interests.
The anonymously authored books have added to the sense of siege.
The administration has not felt secure since the scandal over the circulation of intimate pictures of its state exco Elizabeth Wong. It was a stark reminder that their enemies are everywhere, waiting to pounce on their weaknesses and contradictions.
Perak’s fall to the Barisan earlier this year confirmed that their opponents meant business.
The political pace has gone up several notches since Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak took over as Prime Minister.
The temperature has inched even higher following the Teoh Beng Hock tragedy.
The nature of Teoh’s death not only put the Barisan and MACC on the defensive, it also swung the spotlight onto the state government, its personalities and their discrepancies.
For instance, the rivalry between Bukit Antarabangsa assemblyman Azmin Ali and the Mentri Besar, and the controversies surrounding exco member Ronnie Liu are known to all and sundry.
“They are their own worst enemies. We are only doing our job as the opposition. You think we can force Azmin to grill the MB during assembly sittings?” asked Datuk Subahan Kamal, the Umno assemblyman for Taman Templer.
But no one has been more controversial than Setia Gombak assemblyman Datuk Dr Hasan Ali, who has been on a one-man crusade to implement Islamic law in the state.
He has been unable to see eye-to-eye with his DAP and PKR colleagues from day one. They complain that he is an even better “opposition” than any of the Umno men.
Just a few days ago, Hasan and Teng had a very public argument over Hasan’s push for mosque officials to detain Muslims who consume alcohol in the state.
The sale of alcohol has become a big thing between the two parties and underscores the conflicting priorities and objectives of DAP and PAS.
But generally, said Teng, many of the Pakatan wakil rakyat had known and worked with each other before they came to power.
And despite their differences, the racially-balanced composition of the administration has been one of its strengths. The previous Pakatan government in Perak had struggled mainly because of the image that it was dominated by DAP assemblymen.
The old world elements in Umno are not adverse to a backdoor takeover in Selangor despite the Perak experience.
But the younger set favour a more constitutional route because they are more in touch with the ground and they are aware of the sentiment of younger voters.
“Of course we want Selangor back but the better way would be through the general election. This period is a trial for everyone. Let the rakyat compare who can do a better job and who they want. The Barisan has done more good than bad things and we can change for the better,” said Subahan.
The state government’s early days in power were buoyed by its expose of the excesses of the previous administration, with Dr Khir providing most of the material, such as the so-called study tours to Disneyland and his multi-million ringgit villa.
But exploiting the failure of one’s opponents can only carry one so far. Pakatan has to start showing that it deserves to run Selangor, that it will not repeat the mistakes of the Barisan government, and that it can do better.
It still enjoys sweeping Chinese support but the Malay ground has begun to warm up to Umno. The administration’s longer term survival will depend on delivery. The economic well-being of the people is crucial to a highly urbanised state like Selangor.
The Government has to increase disposable income, create jobs – especially high end jobs – and inspire confidence in its economic performance.
As for the immediate future, Teng hinted that the Mentri Besar is not going to wait till he loses the majority in the house before opting for snap elections. He has no intention of repeating the fatal mistake of his Perak counterpart, that is, to press for fresh polls only after losing the majority.
Khalid, it seems, is prepared to go back to the people even if only three assemblymen cross to the other side.
source : thestar.com.my
No comments:
Post a Comment