I have not heard Azmin Ali tells us that he wants to be Mentri Besar of Selangor. Have you?

I have not heard Azmin Ali tells us that he wants to be Mentri Besar of Selangor. Have you? I have seen people come and people go in PKR. A scandal here and a scandal there once in a while. There has been talk of internal dissent and factionalism within the ranks of the party. And we are told through the media and the social media that trouble has been brewing amongst the first tier leaders within PKR.

I remember a moment during the Sodomy Two trial when we were convinced that Anwar would be incarcerated. As the end of the trial neared I wanted to know what PKR intend to do should Anwar be found guilt and taken from court straight to jail – what then will happen to PKR? There were all sorts of speculation and one story making the rounds was that if Anwar were incarcerated then it would be “durian runtuh” time for Azmin Ali. Nothing could be further from the truth!

Did he not lead a demonstration threatening to breach the prison wall if Anwar was found guilty? Was that just bravado from Azmin or was it a heartfelt threat made by a loyal and long-standing friend of Anwar Ibrahim who could no longer keep his calm when faced with the possibility of his leader being put away again by the gutter political maneuvering of UMNO?

During the party elections in November 2010 did we not hear allegations of fraud condoned by the party leadership to ensure that ‘preferred candidates’ were elected to party positions? Quite like the allegations of fraud that Barisan Nasional has been always accused of during all general elections? In fact has there not been allegations of fraud, abuse of postal votes and the use of money to get voters to cast their votes one way instead of the other? But to date has there been any conviction for electoral fraud?            

My point is this. I have been convinced in the past that Azmin Ali is bad for PKR because every time anything goes wrong in PKR he is our favorite whipping boy! Any body leaving PKR, anybody defecting, any body not chosen as a candidate in any election that PKR is involved in and any fracas between PKR and its coalition partners in Pakatan Rakyat surfaces….Azmin seems to be in the thick of it all. And the same thing is happening with the post of Mentri Besar of Selangor. Since Khalid became MB I have never heard Azmin once utter publicly that he wants to be MB, that he should be MB or that he deserves to be MB! Have you?

Yes Azmin did make the point that Selangor State Assemblymen were none to happy about not being consulted about the reelection of Khalid as MB – the political head of Selangor.

Should not the political head of Selangor that is under PKR also be the political head of PKR? Think about it….Khalid Ibrahim is not the President of PKR. Azizah is.  Khalid is not the Deputy President of PKR. Azmin Ali is. He is not even one of PKR Vice Presidents. He is just a committee member of PKR. Now what would happen if UMNO puts a committee member of UMNO to be our Prime Minister? Would not all hell breaks lose amongst those more senior then him in Umno who will ask why that committee member should be Prime Minister?

And that is the situation in PKR today. You have to applaud the President, the Deputy President, the Vice Presidents and even the defacto leader of PKR, Anwar Ibrahim himself, for making way for Khalid Ibrahim to be MB of Selangor because at that point of time he was deemed to be the right person to be MB of Selangor by the people of Selangor, by PKR and by Pakatan Rakyat too.

Into his second term as MB his lack of political acumen has begun to show. You see in politics having a RM 3 billion reserves sitting in the state coffers may look good for Khalid but it is not doing any good for the people of Selangor because that money is just sitting there earning interest but not doing anything to improve the state infrastructure, not doing anything to provide low costs housing for the state low income inhabitants and it certainly does not do anything to make Selangor a vibrant, thriving state. That money should be put to use responsibly to rejuvenate all that is good within the state – business, education, facilities for the people, improve public transport, health care….etc etc.

And so the rumblings within PKR against Khalid Ibrahim began.

And where was Azmin when all this is happening? 

Anwar is a very busy man. He is leader of the opposition, a sitting Member of Parliament, an International figure in demand globally and most important of all he is the man holding Pakatan Rakyat together – three diverse political entities with different ideologies kept together in a viable union by the magic of Anwar Ibrahim. He has not much time for PKR per se.

Azmin Ali keeps PKR together!

When party members are not happy about not being nominated as candidates….Azmin bears the brunt of their curses even if he had nothing to do with the decision to not nominate that party member.

When Zaid or any other member of PKR leaves PKR in a huff and complains about no transparency and the lack of democracy within PKR……Azmin takes the heat and does what he has to do to hold PKR together to the best of his abilities so that Anwar Ibrahim is not touched by these defections.

When Nurul is seen to not have enough support from PKR ranks in her fight against RNC in Lembah Pantai who is blamed? Azmin of course because people perceived that he did not want Nurul to win in Lembah Pantai. If she loses then he becomes stronger within PKR ranks. Before you say anything ask yourself this: what would Anwar say to Azmin if he perceived that Azmin had not done everything to assist his daughter in Lembah Pantai? And does it make sense that Azmin wants Nurul to lose in one of the most high profile electorate in Malaysia? Huh…of course not!

Anwar can be in New York one day and then he is in Kajang by the weekend doing a meet and greet with the locals over pisang goring and teh tarik. Anwar can be involved in the courts for days on end defending him self one day and suing others the next. He takes refuge in the Turkish Embassy at the invitation of the Ambassador one day and at another time he is doing an interview with CNN or the BBC. And while all this is happening who do you think is holding PKR together?

Azmin Ali is doing just that.

All that Anwar does, good or bad, Azmin is there to make sure that he, not Anwar will bear the brunt of any fallout (if any) from what Anwar had done – but the accolades always goes to Anwar not Azmin. I do not know how Anwar really fells about Azmin Ali but I know that in the things that Azmin has done for Anwar, his loyalty to Anwar Ibrahim cannot be questioned – and that includes his loyalty to Anwar’s family – though Azizah and Nurul may beg to disagree with me on this matter.

Just as Nurul tells us that she is the person Anwar need not worry about defecting, Azmin, by his deeds have done the same for Anwar Ibrahim for a far longer time.

PKR, like Umno and Dap are political parties with Presidents who effectively hold the rein of power. While there may be a need for this Presidential style of managing these political entities it means that for anything to be done, you need to have the ear and attention of the President. When you are trying to get Anwar’s attention, anybody standing in your way is trouble to you, and if he insist upon protecting Anwar from your “advances” then you do all you have to do to push him aside – even discrediting him out of spite. Azmin takes to this role easily because he knows that Anwar Ibrahim is too nice a person to say “no” to anybody. And for this Azmin is held in contempt even by some within PKR.

What is current now seems to be the feud between Azmin and Khalid – the very feud, so they say, that makes it necessary for Anwar to contest in Kajang, and if successful, replace Khalid as MB in Selangor in order to diffuse the increasing tension between Khalid and Azmin. Friends if you think that is the reason why Kajang is happening then you must also be the same person that thinks that Mahathir wanted Pak Lah out because he sincerely believes that Najib will be the better Prime Minister!

Yes Azmin is an ambitious man. He has his political future to think of as Anwar Ibrahim advances in years but you must take him for what he has done in the years that he has been with Anwar – from DPM to Pakatan Rakyat. His priority has always been Anwar Ibrahim, Anwar’s family and then PKR and then his political ambitions.

I have always looked at Azmin from the public image I see of him looking grim, unsmiling, defending PKR and Anwar against their detractors and trying to hold things together after another malapataka has hit Anwar Ibrahim or PKR. Look at how he handles a trying situation in the following youtube clip – he sits calmly and takes whatever comes his way.          

Enough of my talking about this Azmin fellow. I stand to be corrected for the many post I have done where I hantam him for this and for that. I am not saying that he is perfect… …but Azmin is the rock that Anwar needs and the administrator that is holding PKR together. For that give credit where credit is due.