The Malaysian Insight

THE fate and future of the Selangor government hangs in the balance this weekend as PKR meets today for its annual congress in the state’s capital Shah Alam.

It is not far-fetched to say that this congress will also determine whether the opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan – of which PKR is a member – can take over Putrajaya in the next general election.

More so when PKR has become the person in the middle, squeezed by its former partner, PAS, on one side and on the other, by present PH allies – DAP, Amanah and Bersatu.

PAS – the largest opposition party in terms of members and national network – has cut ties with PKR but it still wants to remain in the Selangor PH administration.

The Islamist party now wants to contest in many of the parliamentary and state seats it claims it had “loaned” to PKR. Aside from becoming an electoral bloodbath for the opposition, PKR stands to lose the most as it competes for similar electorate with PAS.

But if PKR capitulates to PAS, it will alienate and anger its partners in PH, thus making it difficult to present a united front against Barisan Nasional.

This annual congress will determine whether PKR can navigate between these two extreme demands.

Man in the middle

The centre of attention this weekend is PKR’s powerful deputy Mohamed Azmin Ali, said analyst Hisomuddin Bakar of the Ilham Centre.

Azmin has been the senior PH leader that is most forgiving of PAS and he has drawn flak from his PH partners over it.

As Selangor Menteri Besar, Azmin has been reluctant to force PAS to resign from all its government appointments despite the latter ending ties with PKR two weeks ago.

PAS has three officials in the Selangor executive council and has appointees in about 5,000 local council and village committee posts throughout the state.

Despite saying it has no ties with PKR and PH, the Islamist party has stubbornly clung on to these posts. This is even while PKR has ordered its officials to let go all its political appointments in PAS-controlled Kelantan.

“PAS continues to benefit from all these posts in Selangor but it uses these benefits to, in the end, attack PKR,” said Hisomuddin.

Azmin, said Hisomuddin, will need to justify his continued magnanimity towards PAS to all the delegates this weekend who are likely to raise the issue during their debates.

During the opening of the Youth and Wanita congress last night, Azmin refused to be drawn into the controversy, preferring to delay any decision to after meeting PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

Another hot-button topic is how PKR will deal with the real possibility of PAS contesting against it in the 14th general election.

This is since PAS considers some of the seats that PKR contested in Kelantan and Kedah as originally belonging to the Islamist party, said Hisomuddin.

Eye on the prize

But any sudden, high drama coming out of the congress could also adversely impact on the party and its hold on Selangor, said another analyst Ibrahim Suffian. This is since the party and its PH allies need to focus on the GE14 campaign.

“It’s not a good idea to choose a path that destabilises Selangor as it is one of those few states ruled by PH,” said Ibrahim of the Merdeka Center.

“Constant fighting with PAS will waste time and energy, which should be going towards strengthening the party.”

The view is shared by the party’s veteran leaders such Chua Tian Chang, who has been with PKR since its formation during the Reformasi era of 1998.

Tian Chua, who is party vice-president, will likely use the occasion to remind the faithful not to take their eyes of the number one aim of trouncing BN.

“We should focus on uniting to bring down this kleptocratic regime instead of attacking other opposition parties,” said the Batu MP.

More than 2,100 delegates and about 2,000 observers from across the country are expected at the two-day congress. – May 20, 2017.