1. It’s confirmed that the Kajang by-election will be held on March 23 while nomination day is set on March 11 with March 19 for early voting.
2. The Kajang by-election will perhaps be an interesting academic debate after Permatang Pauh by-election where Wan Azizah vacated the seat for Anwar to contest. It’s a practice of democracy at its best or a practice of democracy at its worst. We will let the Kajang voters be the jury and the judge on voting day.
3. Anwar has never failed to steal the political lime light ever since he joined UMNO and after he was expelled, formed PKR. He will continue to be the Maverick in Malaysian Politics.
4. Presently, PKR in Selangor is plaque with ominous political & leadership issue that is drowning PKR from the inside. In order to get out of the trouble water and to fight fire with fire, the embattled group in PKR decided to venture into unchartered territory where Dun Kajang would be their battlefield.
5. In PRU 13, PKR won with about 6,800 majority making DUN Kajang one of the safest bet to preserve their victory.
6. Immediately after the announcement, PKR and Khalid Ibrahim almost in the same breath declared that Anwar would be the candidate of choice for the Dun Kajang by-election.
7. PAS Youth leader was quick to support Anwar but defended Khalid Ibrahim to remain as Menteri Besar Selangor (MBS).
8. As usual DAP is keeping calm over the MBS issue. However, the truth remains that DAP also wants Khalid to stay a put.
9. Though the feud between Azmin and Khalid has been an open secret but the dismissal of Azmin as Board member and chairman of the Audit Committee of PKNS was the last straw, which made Azmin to put his foot down and pressured Anwar to act quickly. As we know, Azmin is Anwar’s blue-eyed boy and protege.
10. Anwar left many PKR members in a lurch for sometime and failed to resolve the internal squabble amicably between Azmin and Khalid. While Khalid appears almighty and powerful, Azmin appears meek and powerless. Anwar must save Azmin from political obscurity. Its either Khalid or Azmin. The two cannot co-exist. Hence, the Kajang Move.
11. Faekah Husin, former Private Secretary to MBS, now the CEO of Menteri Besar Incorporated was sharped in lambasting at Anwar and ridicule Rafizi’s claim that UMNO and BN would use emergency rule to seize Selangor by force as preposterous. She is short of saying that it is a gross distortion of the truth.
12. Anwar will fall into the thinking trap of his own creation. He created a monster in PKR and now the monster is getting too wild for him to control. He must take charge now or let PKR be drifted into political wilderness.
13. As for DAP & PAS, they are very much conscious of the collision between Azmin and Khalid, but they need Anwar to continue as their political master to keep Pakatan intact.
14. At the sametime, DAP & PAS recognize that if Anwar won handsomely in Kajang by election, Azmin will be a formidable force and Khalid would ultimately be dislodged.
15. However, DAP & PAS wants Khalid to remain as MB. Hence, now there seems to be an undercurrent movement to sabotage or reduce Anwar’s majority significantly in the Kajang by election.
16. Win or lose, Pakatan can still hold the Selangor fort quite comfortably with their already 2/3 majority. At the same time, if PKR lost, or the majority is reduced, Pakatan will lose face or as Tony Pua rightly put it, that Pakatan would be finished if Anwar lost in Kajang. Hence, the DAP and PAS Dilemma.
17. PAS & DAP knows that Kajang by-election is not so much about Putrajaya but is about Azmin & Khalid. Anwar desperately wants to settle the dusts and allay the anxiety and bitterness between Azmin and Khalid once and for all but at the same time favoring Azmin as his protege.
18. Hence, in the final analysis, the Kajang by-election is expected to be very intense and feverish. It’s not only going to be a show of strength and support between PKR and BN but it’s actually the Battle of the Titans in PKR – it’s a Battle between Azmin Ali and Khalid Ibrahim – When the Going gets Tough, the Tough gets Going !
Article contributed by Tengku Rethwan Tengku Mansor
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