I beg to differ with most other people’s opinion, in that I believe today’s outcome from Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim’s meeting with the sultan of Selangor will only backfire on his credibility as a person even further.

The entire saga, seen from the eyes of the public, will also not reflect well on the menteri besar himself as the state leader and along with him, the people and the parties who are still trying to force their way to defend the post.

In my opinion, he is simply being played out by his own craze for power or unless there are still jobs left undone, which we may only be able to discover in months to come.

Under normal circumstances, someone who has been sacked from the party or falls out of favour with the party’s leadership no longer enjoys the support of the party who nominated him for the highest post in Selangor. This has happened to two of Umno’s appointed menteris besar and a former prime minister. Nothing new at all.

Yet, we are seeing the antics of a leader who has already lost the confidence of his own party as well as its ally, DAP, and yet still clinging on to the post of menteri besar.

I do not think that the sultan is stupid. With his two-week trip overseas, and the fact that PAS, another Pakatan component party has yet to meet, the sultan’s answer is as good as expected. His permission to allow Khalid to continue as MB is at the best a temporary decision, until there are new developments that suggest otherwise.

Khalid’s announcement and exuberance this afternoon will therefore be short-lived. I wonder, if Khalid continues with his saga, would he turn out to be like the proverbial Malay saying, ‘ Pandai-pandai tupai melompat, akhirnya jatuh juga’ . The end result is the same.

Simple arithmetic

PAS and Uumno have 15 and 12 representatives in the Selangor state assembly each. Both DAP and PKR have 15 and 13 each, since Khalid is now an Independent.

Although the choice of a menteri besar for Selangor should never involve the opposition, even if allowed to be brought before the state assembly for a vote of no confidence against Khalid, the results are obvious. Things can and do get out of hand in Malaysian politics, but let me elaborate.

As a matter of principle, Khalid will not be allowed to vote. A coalition of PAS-Umno will have a total of 27, whereas DAP and PKR will have 28. This is straightforward. DAP and PKR have the majority; therefore, Khalid, at this stage, does not enjoy the support from the majority as he claimed in his meeting with the sultan.

Moreover, Khalid was placed there with the support from three component parties within Pakatan. Two of the parties have already made clear their decisions, with PAS still deliberating on the decision which will only be known on Aug 17.

Notwithstanding PAS’ decision final decision on Sunday, both DAP and PKR are already a two against one vote within Pakatan. How then can one party like PAS decide the fate of an partyless menteri besar?

PAS would find that, despite being an Islamic party, it will no longer enjoy the goodwill of the people if it chooses to go down this path. In Selangor, the people did not vote for Khalid, nor PAS, but Pakatan as a whole; therefore, for PAS to be involved in a PAS-Umno power grab is as good as kissing their Islamic values goodbye. Where the people are concerned, they would have become a party that will no longer be seen as having any noble values.

The rumblings may be there with certain factions, as in any political organisation, but I strongly doubt that PAS with a wise leader like Tok Guru Nik Aziz Nik Mat would allow that to happen. While the ulama faction may express their support, the Erdogans in PAS have yet to make their decisions known. With two factions disagreeing, I believe it will be a matter of time that Tok Guru asks them to close ranks.

At worst, Tok Guru may have to allow both factions to decide based on individual conscience whether they support Khalid as menteri besar or not, and tally those numbers to the existing 12 Umno assemblypersons who support, and 28 assemblypersons from PKR and DAP who are against. The figures would end up the same as I have mentioned earlier, without of course any defections.

What baffles me is more is how Khalid could tell the sultan that he still has the majority support from the state assemblypersons when he cannot even tell who among his own exco members are still with him. He will only be able to know it after ‘interviewing’ them one by one. His exco members can also choose to be defiant, by not resigning from the posts despite expressing their personal disgust against him.

Such credibility, if there is any left of Khalid the menteri besar of Selangor within the last few hours, as seen from the public's eyes, will certainly rub into the parties that are willing to be seen still standing with him.

Should the DAP and PKR exco members resign en bloc, Khalid would be left with only four PAS exco members who would carry out the state administration with him. I find it amusing that Khalid can still run the state with just four exco members and claim that he still enjoys the support of the majority, when the rest of the exco have abandoned his ship. Is this a Robinson Crusoe or what?

Remember the mandate

From the last general election, the obvious has to be stated again. We, the Selangorians, voted for Pakatan as a whole. I do not have the exact figures, but it is over 60 percent of the voters, who gave their support to Pakatan.

PAS, if it chooses to pull out of Pakatan and join forces with Umno, has to realise that they were still part of Pakatan when we cast our votes. It does not matter now if they choose to leave Pakatan, but the people’s mandate is obvious - not Umno or Barisan Nasional.

To now realign itself with Umno, PAS is simply risking its own reputation. As an Islamic party, would it risk betraying the people’s trust? I, for example, voted for PAS for the first time in my life, because I support Pakatan in principle. How then can PAS betray my trust and still earn the respect that I have of its spiritual leader and adviser, Tok Guru Nik Aziz?

Now, supposing if Khalid picked more exco members from his supporters in PAS, then the state cabinet would mainly be a PAS administration, similar to Kelantan. This again is against the spirit of a coalition and the people's mandate, and PAS’ image would go down the drain overnight.

Khalid can pick Umno state assemblypersons to join his exco, since he has arrogantly told the other exco member to “fly kite” if they cannot continue with their role as exco. But then, this is against the spirit of the general election, where in Selangor, the support for Barisan Nasional did not match that of Pakatan.

With this regard, Khalid’s announcement that he has the support of the sultan to cling on to his post as MB will only reflect badly on him, when it turns out that the sultan’s decision is only meant to be a temporary decision.

In my opinion, I think it is wiser for Khalid to just step down gracefully and move on with life than to appear like a fool to stay on as MB, when he no longer enjoys the support of his party. In politics, nothing is permanent anyway and I would be a fool to believe that Khalid can still earn my respect as a Selangorian.

STEPHEN NG is a chemist by training. He dealt with printing ink, paint and emulsion polymer for 15 years before becoming a freelance writer.