OPINION There is a lot of talk and debate on this issue. There are many views opposing Anwar Ibrahim as the next menteri besar of Selangor. And, many are reluctant to even try and understand the reason behind such a strategy.

One must understand that any political party is entitled to strategise. In fact, it must, for its survival and for the betterment of the party and the coalition it represents.

What is so wrong in Anwar becoming the next menteri besar of Selangor? This must be looked into from several angles.

Besides the fact that any party having its right to strategise, several other problems can also be resolved by Anwar ( left ) becoming the menteri bsear, with the immediate settlement of the Abdul Khalid Ibrahim-Azmin Ali being one.  

Selangor will also have the advantage of getting the PKR supremo as its head of government.

Further, Anwar is already the economic adviser to Selangor. This shift in political position will only help him steer Selangor to greater heights and Selangorians will enjoy being led by the top leader of Pakatan Rakyat.

What could be a better opportunity to showcase to the people of Malaysia how a state should be run? The people of Malaysia can look to Selangor as a way in which the country can be administered one day.

As to the view that the Sultan of Selangor may not agree, I think this is presumptuous. His Royal Highness will surely know that ours is a constitutional monarchy, where the leader of the party that commands the majority support in the legislative assembly will have the right to lead and form his cabinet, or executive council, as the case may be.

Anwar has much more experience

Comparatively, Anwar comes with much more experience than Khalid. No doubt that Khalid has performed remarkably well, for Selangor has grown to be a prosperous state under his leadership.

Good governance and integrity were instilled rightly and the overhaul in governance has resulted in doubling revenue collections. No doubt about this.

But if the party wishes to strategise, democratically there is nothing to stop it. It does not mean a candidate vying to be the prime minister of the country cannot be the chief minister of a state as well.  

Instead of taking the narrow view, this issue should be seen from an expanded perspective. Just look at examples around the world. In India for instance, the chief minister of Gujarat state, Narendra Modi, has already been announced by his party to be the presidential candidate.  

India is the largest democracy in the world and Indians accept that the BJP party in India has got the right to nominate a state chief minister to be their presidential candidate.

Drawing an analogy, the effective leader of DAP, Lim Guan Eng, is the Chief Minister of Penang. So what's wrong with Anwar, the de facto leader of PKR, being the menteri besar of Selangor?

On the political point of view, and this is I think is the most important, Anwar becoming the menteri besar  of Selangor will have serious implications on the BN.

Rest assured that Selangor will be under Pakatan for a long, long time to come if Anwar becomes the next menteri besar. Selangor will be forever lost to BN and this is what BN is afraid of. Isn’t that wonderful?

We must not forget the bigger picture. Do not zoom in on the trivial issues like how it is being done but rather why and how are we going to benefit from it. Let us not lose sight of our common enemy. Let us educate ourselves to be a little more visionary.

M MANOGARAN is the former Member of Parliament for Teluk Intan.