For Khalid, end of troubled MB tenure a ‘relief’

SHAH ALAM, Sept 23 ― For Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, finally relinquishing the post of Selangor mentri besar has been a great relief, particularly after enduring six years of leading an administration he claimed was hampered by intense lobbying, threats and “too much political interference”.

The former corporate leader said it had not been easy for him ― a man often described as more a businessman than a politician ― but against all odds, the ex-PKR man said he believes he left the job with his head held high, having never once compromised on his principles.

“I am relieved!” he told Malay Mail Online in an interview yesterday, his last day on duty.

Seated in his near-empty office at the 21st floor Selangor's administrative building, Khalid, who in recent months became the target of attacks by the same people he once called friends, was a picture of calm.

Recounting his six years in the hot seat, Khalid admitted that he had underestimated the responsibilities the job required when he first took his oath of office shortly after the 12th general election in 2008.

“To tell you the truth, I am relieved… because this job, it is not as easy as one would have thought it to be,” he said.

He lamented over the many difficulties he faced when carrying out his duties as the chief executive of the nation’s richest state, claiming there had been too much political interference in his every decision.

“I could not ― there was interference, lobbying and other threatening impacts.

“My assessment then was it is better not to continue, otherwise I would end up blaming myself,” Khalid said, explaining one of the reasons why he tendered in his resignation as MB in August.

“If I had been given the freedom to manage the state professionally and without interference, then I think I would have continued (as MB),” he added.

The Port Klang assemblyman has been at odds with his former colleagues in Pakatan Rakyat (PR), especially PKR and DAP, over how he ran the Selangor government.

Chief of PKR's complaints against Khalid was that many of his major policy decisions contravened with the party’s own, and that he had purportedly made them unilaterally, without consulting the leadership.

As a result, Khalid found himself sacked from PKR and forced to face an ouster from the mentri besar seat, years ahead of his term’s official expiration.

The politician has since chosen to remain an independent lawmaker, brushing off all talk of so-called overtures from parties like Umno and PAS who were speculated as likely to court him.

Khalid admitted, however, that Umno leaders had approached him, but maintained that it was not in the form of an offer to join the Malay party, and more towards him offering his expertise in the corporate field.

“Yes, they came and talked to me. It was not an offer to join (them)...I am not going to do that.

“Even PAS, they would be delighted if I joined them...but they understand why I want to be independent,” Khalid said.

He said that he will serve out his term as Port Klang assemblyman and Bandar Tun Razak MP, and subsequently retire from entire.

One possibility for his future, he said, is to join the world of academia.

“At my age...I want to get into something more reflective, and for some reason I also want to work in a more strategic position,” Khalid added.

Khalid was appointed the post of Selangor mentri besar from Election 2008 when PR wrested the state from Barisan Nasional (BN).

He was sacked by the party recently, a move which he has since challenged by lodging a complaint with the Registrar of Societies (RoS).

PKR deputy president Azmin Ali, Khalid’s fiercest critic, has since been chosen by the Selangor ruler as Khalid’s successor, following a protracted squabble among PR parties over the coveted post.

But after Azmin’s appointment was announced yesterday, PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, initially the PKR and DAP’s pick for the post, said her party accepts her deputy's appointment as MB, even if it did not adhere by state laws.

The appointment ends months of speculation and squabbling after PKR’s decision to nominate Dr Wan Azizah was rejected by it’s PR ally PAS.

Both PKR and the DAP had nominated just Dr Wan Azizah as MB, while PAS sent in an undisclosed list of candidates, which reportedly did not include Dr Wan Azizah.

Several news reports stated that the Selangor palace had initially picked PAS’s Iskandar Samad for the post but the assemblyman turned down the offer, allegedly due to health reasons.