The Calm Before the Storm

Following the swearing-in of Azmin Ali, the dust has finally settled down on the Selangor MB crisis.

But, it is not time to draw a sigh of relief yet, and the crisis is anything but over. We have yet to see how Anwar Ibrahim is going to pick up the pieces, and how Azmin will run the state, and how the three parties that make up Pakatan Rakyat would reconcile. In addition, we are also concerned about possible changes to the country's political system as a result of this crisis.

Without doubt the relationship among the three parties of Pakatan Rakyat has suffered a tremendous blow because of this. PAS has always not been in agreement with DAP over certain issues, and now the Islamic party finds new differences with PKR. How will these three parties which Hadi has said admittingly that have very different political struggle goals, would ever get together again?

In this whole thing, DAP has been playing a passive role right from the start, dancing to the tune of PKR's de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim. But that also means DAP suffers the least impact among the three parties in this crisis. At least the party will not be like its other allies in Pakatan PKR and PAS, which are going through a period of relative calm for the time being before a major storm strikes.

In the just concluded PAS general assembly, the conservatives and the liberals were locked in a fierce war of words, unreservedly exposing the real discord within the party. The two Selangor reps whom party president Hadi Awang had labeled "accomplices" insisted they supported Kak Wan out of their own accord while vowing they would not quit the party. The outcome of this power wrestling between the conservatives and the liberals would have decisive effects on the party's future directions as well as the cooperation with their allies in Pakatan Rakyat.

Although PKR has managed to keep the MB post, and has accepted the appointment of Azmin Ali as the new MB, anyone with a sound mind should be able to tell that to PKR, this has been a reluctant eventuality, more so to Anwar Ibrahim.

This shows that Anwar's painstakingly designed "Kajang Plan" has flopped completely, and this will have a detrimental toll on his personal reputation and integrity. To make things worse, power struggle within PKR will be aggravated following Azmin's appointment as Selangor MB, making it all the more challenging for Pakatan to put through its Putrajaya plan come the next general elections.

It is unbecoming that a minor power struggle issue that could have been settled internally has now cost the entire party so dearly, that even the cordial working relationship among the three parties is now in peril. Anwar has a responsibility to bear. In this whole thing, Anwar's judgment capacity and the way he handles the crisis are questionable. Once again he has exposed his weaknesses and conceitedness.

The Selangor MB crisis has exposed the stark reality that Pakatan Rakyat is indeed a very lax organization, with vulnerable foundation for the three parties to work together, which is a far cry from what the public have expected from them. If the three parties fail to make amends, Pakatan might as well be inching closer towards decline.

No one can dominate a party forever. It is a matter of time that the "post-Anwar" era will eventually arrive. If the three parties were to work together again, then someone will have to take Anwar's place as the supreme leader of Pakatan.

This is yet another big question mark that hangs over us after the Selangor MB crisis.

Source: SinChew