AUGUST 11 — The decision by PKR to sack Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim from the party on Saturday came as no surprise for many.
The party claimed the decision to remove him was made after Khalid chose to defy party orders by not giving way to the party’s choice of mentri besar — Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
For the majority in the Pakatan alliance, the removal of Khalid was the first step in ensuring the mentri besar in waiting does not have to wait for too long to “ensure Selangor was on the right path”.
Wan Azizah, had during a ceramah just hours after Khalid was shown the door, said the position of MB was not important to her and what mattered most was “the well-being of the rakyat”.
However, it remains to be seen if the rakyat in the state, who voted for Pakatan Rakyat in the last election, are pleased to know the state is in a turmoil and Khalid’s days as MB are numbered.
Although many were keen to know if there is sufficient water in the country’s richest state or whether water from former mining pools is safe for consumption, all this would have to wait until this fiasco is resolved.
In the 70s, a vote of no confidence was taken against Selangor mentri besar Datuk Idris Harun and Kelantan mentri besar Datuk Muhamed Nasir.
In 2009, Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin was ousted as Perak mentri besar following defections by Pakatan leaders in the state.
In May, Umno’s Datuk Ahmad Said resigned as Terengganu mentri besar and he also quit Umno for a brief period following a misunderstanding over the date of his daughter’s wedding.
Ahmad Said had also prior to that hogged the limelight following his controversial 15-day visit to Antartica to study more about climate change, a visit which was labelled as a waste of public funds.
However, the situation in Selangor is slightly different. PKR does not not command the majority of seats in the assembly, yet, the party insist on replacing Khalid with another party member.
PKR claimed Khalid’s integrity came into question following his out-of-court settlement with Bank Islam, Selangor’s water restructuring deal with Putrajaya and for stamping his approval over the controversial Kidex highway project.
A Pakatan leader said while Khalid performed well during his first term, he failed to live up to his good name in his second term.
Questions have been raised over his out-of-court settlement with Bank Islam over his RM66.67 million debt, reportedly with the help from Umno lawyer Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Manaf.
“Subsequently, even developers questioned the manner how the state government had entered into business deals with Eco World Berhad, a company which is controlled by Rashid,” said the source.
“People will always say when one is accused of an offence, he will not plead guilty. And not all too will agree that someone is innocent before he is said to be guilty.”
The insider said Khalid was not merely being lambasted over the alleged irregularities but due to the fact he refused to be part of the team.
“He is always staying away from the team. Even corporate leaders will always say teamwork has to be on top of the agenda, but it doesn’t seem to be the case here.”
Khalid, the source said, has been accused of being snobbish as he would stay away from PKR members.
“Even they can’t meet him. He only gave his executive councillors a four-hour notice before he inked the water deal with the federal government. How is Pakatan supposed to work with a leader who works in isolation?” he questioned.
While Khalid said he entered into the Langat 2 deal for the benefit of the people, his comrades accused him of going against the party when he entered into the water deal.
But do these alleged irregularities warrant for him to be sacked from the party?
It should be noted that even Umno sent a show-cause letter to DAP candidate for Teluk Intan Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud’s mother Yammy Samat after the veteran Umno member allegedly campaigned for her daughter.
The party also sacked 61 of its members for contesting as independent candidates during the 13th general election.
While PKR may have a strong ally in DAP, it remains to be seen if those in PAS would also favour ousting Khalid as head honcho of the state.
PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat last week said Khalid should remain as mentri besar was advised those to stop accusing Khalid for misconduct. The party’s president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang backed Khalid, saying he had not misused the trust accorded to him by the people.
Khalid has been left in a lurch and it remains to be seen if he would be able to garner the support of the majority in the state assembly.
He is also expected to seek an audience with the Selangor Royal Assembly Council over the fiasco.
It remains to be seen if he would be able to garner support from the majority of the state assembly or whether he would seek for the state assembly to be dissolved and for snap polls to be called.
If snap polls are called, there is a possibility of PR winning but with a reduced majority, and there is also a possibility of BN wresting back the state.
Either way, it’s been a long week for Selangor, especially for its voters who are beginning to question if they had made a right choice when they voted for change.
*This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
