Pakatan Rakyat’s state of disarray

By Baradan Kuppusamy (The Star)

AFTER Kedah and Penang, rumblings have surfaced in Selangor, the jewel in the crown of the Pakatan Rakyat coalition, indicating that the malaise that has hit the coalition in recent months is not isolated.

Just a-year-and-a-half old, the Pakatan is showing a serious inability to get its three partners to work together even on basic things like the need for abattoirs, the appointment of local councillors and finding solutions for people displaced by unequal development.

But the rumblings in Selangor are far more serious with Azmin Ali, the Bukit Antarabangsa assemblyman, alleging that certain Selangor exco members were unfit to hold office and should be replaced.

Last week, he urged Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim to reshuffle the state executive council, drop certain under-performing exco members and appoint new faces based on ability and without regard to race or party affiliation.

He cited the state’s declining revenue, alienation of the business community and lack of new investment and democratic restrictions as reasons for a reshuffle.

It is no secret that Azmin, the PKR leader who is closest to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, does not think highly of Khalid as a politician, Mentri Besar or state leader.

In fact, PKR sources said Azmin covets the post of Mentri Besar and has been pressing for a change at the top levels, arguing that Khalid, a corporate leader from Guthrie, has no political experience.

At one PKR gathering recently, Anwar famously cited several books on politics and urged Khalid to read them.

“There is a feeling among top PKR leaders that Khalid is losing it politically in Selangor,” a PKR leader said, adding that, “There is also a feeling that others are taking advantage of his political vulnerability.”

It is ironic that often, DAP leaders are more forthright than PKR leaders in supporting Khalid over issues in Selangor.

At another level, the rumblings in Selangor have to do with the intense rivalry between DAP and PKR as indicated by Azmin’s criticism. Sources said it was also directed at DAP heavyweights Teresa Kok, the exco member for Investment, Industry and Commerce; and Ronnie Liu, who oversees Local Government, Study and Research.

In handling local government, Ronnie is holding a hot potato. One, that’s where the money is such as in waste collection and other ancillary services like billboards; and two, he decides on the appointment of councillors who have control over how the bounty is contracted out.

Both areas are heavily contested and because of that, Ronnie is easily the target of allegations and rumours.

This was the case last month when outspoken Petaling Jaya Municipal councillor A. Thiruvenggadam alleged that waste collection contracts were divided between Pakatan supporters according to a 40-30-30 formula.

The allegations were rubbished by some PKR leaders but others confirmed it as correct and Ronnie himself received criticism from within the DAP and outside.

Right or wrong, his image has taken a beating and consequently that of the DAP, which prides itself in being a squeaky clean political party.

PKR’s Wangsa Maju MP Wee Chee Keong, a former DAP member and its MP for Bukit Bintang, took the controversy a step further while supporting Azmin’s call for a reshuffle.

Not a friend of the DAP, Wee alleged that he had received complaints from Pakatan members and businessmen in Selangor that the “office of a certain exco member” was being used as a meeting place for people connected with “underground business activities.”

“This is an open secret within the Selangor State’s administrative office. This is most unhealthy as it will give the impression that the exco member is in support of the ‘underground business activities’ and the impropriety will eventually affect the image of the Pakatan government,” Wee alleged in his blog.

Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail has jumped in, ordering an immediate investigation into Wee’s allegation. Where the probe will lead is unknown but it is clear these are dreadful times for the Pakatan Rakyat.

With disputes, divisions and stubborn differences popping up one after another, it is evident the initial euphoria of election victory that had hid the warts, has all but evaporated.

A belated and half-hearted opposition shadow committee announced late June appears stillborn and is unable to effectively unite the Pakatan partners under one common ideological umbrella.

The endless squabbles have already Pakatan’s once-splendid public image. If they continue, it would create the impression that they are little more than boy scouts.

In addition the coalition, which famously claims not to know corruption because they are new to power, has to start taking pro-active measures to guard against that evil.

The oft-repeated axiom, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, does not exclude the Pakatan coalition.