If Khalid Ibrahim stays on as MB, Pakatan may lose Selangor
There
was an article written which says only Khalid can sack Khalid as MB. This is because
the King has power to appoint but not sack Khalid as PM. Unless of course, the house
(in this case) the DUN Selangor passes a vote of no confidence to Khalid.
This
is what the DUN must apply its mind to next, if push comes to shove. If
Khalid refuses to resign, the house must pass a vote of no confidence. The permutations
involving UMNO and BN are not relevant. its PR vs. BN.
if
BN lends its support to Khalid, then that can be taken as a sign that all this
while Khalid, the consummate deal maker that he is, has something worked out
with UMNO.
If
a vote of no -confidence is carried out initiated by PKR, it isn’t a good and nice
thing to do. PKR will be seen in a bad light; after having chosen your man for
the MB’s job, PKR reverses and humiliates its own man by way of a vote of no confidence.
In
my mind, PKR must first set its house in order. The rancorous party elections notwithstanding,
if Khalid loses, he must resign. This is because he no longer enjoys the confidence
of a majority of the party members. He should be intelligent enough and
principled enough to do the correct thing. Khalid may say party position is not
the same as MB’s position. He must recognise
that he derives legitimacy from the fact it is the party that nominated him as
MB. Once he loses their confidence that is the same as being asked in a nice and
dignified way to resign.
I
hope Khalid would not want to go through such and ignominious exit. He should
do the gentlemanly thing. If PKR asks him to resign, as a matter of moral
principle he should step down.
I
have sat down with Khalid for an interview. I have formed a negative
impression
about Khalid from that interview. I concede that my impression is not
relevant
in Khalid’s view. He came out as a person who doesn't care about the
opinion of others. But he has portrayed himself as a man who attaches a
high
premium to principles. Because of that, he should therefore quit his job
when
his party asks him to.
It is up the PKR’s Mursyidul am- Anwar Ibrahim
to enforce some discipline. Although Anwar may say he is only an advisor, everyone
knows he is the de facto leader of PKR. Otherwise, what are we (the other
partners in Pakatan Rakyat) doing with a leader with no substance?
How
UMNO and BN with 12 seats wish to manipulate their position or to align themselves in any permutations
is irrelevant. The fact is: PR has 44 seats. PR must act as one- pass a vote of
no confidence. Even if the speaker cannot vote, plus Khalid and BN’s 12 votes, PR
has still got 42 votes supporting the vote of no confidence.
If
Azmin, the expected winner of the deputy president’s post is also not acceptable,
it is impossible that there is no one else who can become MB. There must be
someone with some credibility, a Selangorian and who has position in PKR. Looking
back at Khalid, I have not seen a sitting MB abandoning his existing seat to
move elsewhere. That must be an indication he does not even enjoy support in
the previous constituency.
The
man who replaced him and was not even expected to win but finally did is a
person worth considering as the next Pakatan MB. I believed Khalid’s
replacement at the Ijok constituency is a well-known doctor who would make a
good MB. He is a Selangorian and holds leadership position in PKR. Why doesn’t PKR consider him as a compromised
MB candidate?