All the suspense and more in PKR


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It was not until the last minute that Selangor MB Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim announced his move to contest the PKR No. 2 post.

Philip Golingai, The Star

IT was a day that the master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock would have been utterly impressed by.

The suspense on whether Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim would contest for the PKR deputy president’s post began with an SMS last Friday.

The SMS stated in Malay that Khalid would announce at the Selangor Mentri Besar’s official residence that he was contesting for the deputy presidency in PKR.

The SMS was a hoax. It was not sent by Khalid’s camp.

Probably, if you asked PKR leaders who masterminded the SMS, their standard answer would be: “Ini kerja Umno (it is the work of Umno).”

However, if you privately asked the Khalid camp, they would tell you that the SMS was disseminated by someone from the rival PKR camp. No prizes for guessing who.

Hoax or not, there was some truth to the SMS. That night, Khalid was hosting aMajlis Makan Malam Kasih Bertaut (loosely translated: dinner ceremony for the bond of love) with Selangor PKR divisions. Sources confirmed that Khalid was gunning for the post held by his nemesis Azmin Ali.

At around 4.30pm, The Star Online uploaded a story with the headline: “Khalid to challenge Azmin for PKR No. 2 post”.

I tweeted the link to the story and immediately a politician replied: “Real or rumour mongering?”

“Real. Invite sent. It is tonight,” I tweeted back.

He replied: “Let’s wait & see whether @Khalid_Ibrahim will announce fighting @AzminAli for deputy post! Otherwise The Star image dampened!”

I tweeted: “So far when it comes to PKR, we’ve been right. Nurul divorce. Kajang by-election. Anwar going for Selangor MB.”

The Star had run a story that PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah was divorcing; she denied it and it turned out that the report was true.

The Star reported that there would be a by-election to make way for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to be Selangor MB. Anwar denied it. Now, PKR’s official stand is Anwar may or may not be interested in the MB post.

At 6pm, I tweeted: “Tonight I’m going to Selangor MB house. Got big announcement. Free makan and free WATER.”

Water? My tweet was inspired by a similar tweet by Khalid loyalist Faekah Husin who probably poked fun at the meroyan (direct translation: postpartum depression) behaviour by PKR leaders after Khalid inked the Langat 2 water deal with the Federal Government.

Two hours later, as I arrived at the official residence of the Mentri Besar in Shah Alam, I received a WhatsApp message that in an earlier function Khalid had denied that he was going for the PKR deputy president post.

At the function in a hall inside the compound of the residence, Khalid’s political secretary told The Star that his boss was not making any big announcement that night.

However, he told my colleague Joceline Tan that Khalid would contest the post.

“It is no secret. It is not even 99%, but a 100% sure thing,” he said.

With that I tweeted: “Question mark whether Khalid Ibrahim will announce anything big tonight.”

The only sign indicating that there might be a big announcement that night was a mischievous banner written in Malay. It stated: “PKR Ampang Move. We fully support the leadership of Tan Sri Khalid. The struggle has not ended.”

Ironically, Azmin’s stronghold is the Ampang PKR division.

Dinner was served at around 9pm. From a quick glance, it was obvious that the food prepared was not enough to feed the crowd in the hall.

Those who were last in the queue had to be content with rice and cucumber on their plate.

“This shows you how tight-fisted Khalid is with money. Probably he didn’t even try to make money from food catering,” a friend, who managed to grab three pieces of chicken, told me.

At 9.15pm, PKR members enthusiastically took photographs with their Mentri Besar.

Fifteen minutes later, the MC announced that Khalid was going to give a speech. “Jadi atau tidak jadi? (Will it happen or will it not happen),” he asked the crowd.

Jadi,” the crowd shouted. “Jadi. Jadi. Jadi. Jadi. Jadi! Jadi! Jadi! JADI! JADI! JADI!”

Before Khalid’s speech, I asked his press secretary Arfa’eza Aziz if her boss would make a big announcement and she said no.

I also asked Khalid’s political secretary the same question and his answer was the same.

For about 10 minutes Khalid read a forgettable speech.

At 9.43pm, my ears perked up.

“Tonight I have been asked to be a candidate … in Ijok,” he said in Malay.

The crowd burst into laughter.

They thought he was going to say candidate for PKR deputy president’s post.

The master of suspense went on to talk about the day when he was asked to contest in Ijok.

“Is he going to announce anything juicy tonight?” I asked Azman Abidin, the political secretary. “Not tonight,” he said.

Khalid then went on to say that his priority was to win the Kajang by-election for Anwar.

“So don’t campaign for me yet. I know you have been waiting for me to say something,” he said.

“I would like to announce my keinginan (desire) but I can’t prioritise my personal ambition yet. We need to concentrate on Kajang.

“I would like to announce that I will contest for …,” said Khalid, pausing for effect, “PKR deputy president’s post.”

The crowd shouted: “Hidup Tan Sri! Hidup Tan Sri!”

I asked Tan Sri’s press secretary if she had known he would declare his candidacy. “No, it was impromptu,” Arfa’eza said.

I tweeted a photograph of the leaders who were at the VIP table and a press secretary of a Federal minister replied: “Don’t recognise anyone at his ‘VIP table’ except for Syed Shahir. Is this the best that TSKI can do?”

I tweeted: “Impromptu announcement. Khalid insider told me that his running mates are Nurul Izzah and Tian Chua.”

 



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