As Pakatan quarrels, BN goes for the jugular

"A house divided against itself cannot stand."

When Abraham Lincoln uttered those words in his famous speech, he was referring to 1850's America which was divided "half slave and half free".

But his words might just as well be about Pakatan Rakyat in Selangor, a 'house' very much divided against itself - a third PKR, a third DAP, with PAS tottering in between.

The fledgling Pakatan rose to dizzying heights after the 12th general election 'political tsunami', which saw the coalition winning over the rakyat's votes to deny BN a two-thirds majority in Parliament and adding four more states to its ruling tally.

Selangor, their crowning glory, is the richest state in the peninsula and straddles the seat of Malaysia's government.

PM Najib Abdul Razak himself called it "the heartbeat of the country," as he vowed to return the prodigal state to the BN fold.

But the Pakatan leaders in the state are now squabbling among themselves. Like so many preening 'roosters' vying to be the pick of the roost.

The most vocal of these is the heavyweight title fight between PAS state commissioner Hassan Ali and exco member Ronnie Liu (extreme right) of the DAP.
Their ongoing bouts are mainly about the ban on alcohol sale, an issue which has been brought up by PAS several times before.

The first punch was thrown by the Islamic party representative on the Klang municipal council.
But the state government has given the issue the run-around.

A fight over a pint?

The action by MBSA to confiscate alcoholic beverages from a retail outlet was the latest blow in the conflict which saw Liu go head to head against Hassan.

It does not help that Liu is also allegedly linked with vice activities.
He was previously implicated with allegedly obstructing MPSJ officers from closing down a suspected vice den. This probably blackened him further in the eyes of the Islamic party.

What followed was a bitter war of words between the two headstrong politicians who continue to be at loggerheads, their apparently friendly handshake notwithstanding.

But DAP is not the only one to feel the wrath of PAS as PKR is also in the line of fire.

The Islamic party was very critical of Selangor exco Elizabeth Wong over her photo scandal. It even hinted that the Bukit Lanjan assemblyperson should vacate her seat and let go of all her posts over her 'questionable' morality.

In the cow-and-car scandal, PAS was not as supportive of PKR and Selangor MB Khalid Ibrahim (right) as was expected of a stalwart coalition member.

Unlike DAP, which immediately threw its weight behind the embattled MB, the Islamic party instead called for Khalid to provide an explanation over the matter.

However PKR itself is not immune to inter-party conflict.

Its Wangsa Maju MP Wee Choo Keong continues to attack members of the Selangor exco - targeting mainly Liu and fellow exco Ean Yong Hian Wah - over alleged "underworld" links.

But the extent of Pakatan's nitpicking is not exclusive to inter-party spats.

More serious are internal rumblings within some of the parties which could very well undermine them from within.

Cracks appearing from within

Once again PAS tops the list with an alleged conspiracy among the pro-ulama faction to 'cleanse' the party by removing members of the 'erdogan' faction from positions of power.

The controversy is linked to none other then the very vocal and pro-ulama Hassan Ali.

Next in line, are rumours of PKR vice-president Azmin Ali's (left) ambition to replace Khalid as Selangor MB.

The logic behind the move was said to be Azmin's party post which outranks that of Khalid's.

While seemingly being appeased by being given the task to spearhead Pakatan's foray into Sabah, Azmin continues to be a thorn in the MB's side, with his scathing comments about the latter and unwarranted call for Khalid to reshuffle his state exco council.

Khalid purportedly responded with a pre-emptive strike by commissioning pollster Merdeka Centre to conduct a survey of the public's support for himself and the Selangor government.

The poll, which saw the MB being given the thumbs up by 64 percent of the state, was a warning to the troublesome factions within PKR as much as it was a reminder to BN.

Khalid is clearly saying that with the people of Selangor behind him, any attempts to displace him won't be a walk in the park.
But walk in a park or no, BN is having a field day with Pakatan's bitter infighting.

The ruling coalition led federal government wasted no time in taking advantage of the distraction to mount a political siege against Selangor.

Selangor Speaker Teng Chang Khim agreed: "As we see it from the inside, Selangor has no problem. Of course Umno wants to take advantage to create chaos."

This is a fair observation, from the magnifying glass of the BN-friendly media, which continue to focus on every suppurating pore on Pakatan's trouble-marked face, not to mention the uncanny mushrooming of investigations and prosecutions involving members of the Selangor government.

'No-holds-barred assault'

DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang calls it a "no-holds-barred onslaught and take-no-prisoners assault" against Selangor Pakatan.

He alleged that leading the charge against Selangor Pakatan are the police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

Indeed the actions of one government enforcement agency at least became an issue of "great concern" for Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M).

Commenting on MACC's seizures of files from seven Pakatan asemblypersons, TI-M issued a stern statement that "the action seems to be one of selective investigation and gives the impression of political harassment".

The transparency watchdog urged MACC to "quickly inform the public for the reasons behind their actions and any investigation...must be carried out speedily and the results be made public".

Selangor excos Liu and Ean Yong (right) questioned the double standards that the police and MACC seem to apply in their investigations.

"How can they investigate only based on evidence from a blog posting?" asked the duo who added that if blog postings are the standard of evidence than all politicians, whether BN or opposition, should be investigated.

According to them. they have also lodged a police report about a blog that they claimed contained 'lies' about the Teoh Beng Hock case.

"Until today I don't even know who the IO (investigating officer) is," said Liu while claiming that the police and other enforcement agencies seem selective in what cases they investigate.

Fellow Selangor exco Dr Xavier Jayakumar also condemned the apparent harassment of state employees by authorities which smacks of "disrespect for the state government".

This a pattern of harassment is an eerie reminder of the actions of two assemblypersons in Perak who later broke with the opposition coalition to become Independents and brought down the opposition- held state government.

The two Pakatan state assemblypersons were subjected to MACC investigations for alleged corruption shortly before their 'disappearance' and eventual defection.

It would appear that the BN-led federal government seems unashamed to make use of the mainstream media and government organs for its own ends.

Always, the words 'orders from above' seem to follow every incident such as these.

What BN and the federal government may fail to realise is that they should actually be following 'orders from the rakyat'.

But if events in Perak are any indication, the ruling coalition seems unfazed with what the rakyat thinks.

But BN would do well to watch if the plot continues to thicken in Selangor.

It will be the second time that the people have been denied their democratic voice.

Come next general election, it may be the rakyat that may be going for BN's jugular!

Yesterday: PM's promise: Target Selangor
Tomorrow: Target Selangor: Will Pakatan fall?