Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, who is eyeing the PKR deputy president's post, said the party will not benefit from leaders who are merely "yes men" to the boss, Anwar Ibrahim.

In an apparent dig at his rivals, Khalid said those who want the deputy chief's post like to follow Anwar but dare not say “no” to the party's de facto leader, who is contesting the president's post against his spouse Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

"This does not mean we must say no all the time, but we need a balance. So I am offering myself to balance the party, to be a balancing factor," Khalid said at a meeting with his supporters at Sunway Carnival Mall in Seberang Jaya yesterday.

"I have shown you I have the character to do the right thing and not the wrong thing. I also have the experience to administer a government and to work with everyone," added the two-term menteri besar, who is now in his sixth year as head of the Selangor government.

Khalid said Anwar "performs a lot of silat" (Malay martial arts), especially in politics and in the courts, and is a busy man but along the way, he has gathered many admirers who want to be like him.

He recalled that Anwar's former political secretary and former PKR Youth chief Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor was one such admirer, who idolised Anwar to the extent that Ezam wanted to dress and speak like Anwar.

Ezam has since left PKR and rejoined Umno, and has been appointed a senator.

"Our party can't have just one person to do the thinking," Khalid said.

"If I am a boss, I also want yes men. If someone continues to say no to me, I might just say we can't work together," he added.

"Anwar and I are of the same age but we have different experiences. We can be a good combination," Khalid said.

"He has said before that I am his friend but do not listen to him. If there is no balance in leadership, we will not have a mind to do check-and-balance (in government)," he added.

Khalid faces a tough battle against incumbent deputy chief Azmin Ali and secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, who has teamed up with Nurul Izzah Anwar and Rafizi Ramli in a pact termed "Our Future Together".

Both Nurul Izzah and Rafizi are fighting for the posts of vice-president in the party's internal election that will be run from April 25 to May 11.

Khalid: I do not lack supporters in the north

Although only 50 people turned up to listen to his campaign speech on the theme "Reformasi Tulen",  Khalid does not think he lacks supporters in the northern region.

Khalid's team was probably expecting about 200 people as they had booked a large room for the event which was supposed to start at 4.30pm.

But even up to 6pm, the crowd was not getting larger while Khalid arrived 30 minutes, later from Kedah.

Machang Bubok's Lee Khai Loon was the only assemblyman who stayed during Khalid's event while Seberang Jaya assemblyperson Dr Afif Bahardin dropped in earlier and then left for another appointment.

Accompanying Khalid from Kedah was senator and former Malaysian Trades Union Congress president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud.

Asked about the low turnout at his event, which he himself remarked as having more reporters than supporters, Khalid replied "I am meeting different groups of people at different locations.

"I do not want all of them to come to the same place, it might be difficult for them," he said.

He made six stops yesterday - in Alor Setar, Gurun, Sungai Petani, Kulim Bandar Bahru before heading to Seberang Jaya, and then to Bayan Baru on the island for dinner.

Meanwhile, Khalid said he would use his experience as menteri besar to benefit the party if members voted him in as deputy chief.

"It is not that I simply want to be the menteri besar and deputy PKR chief without contributing anything to the party," he said.

He said he was willing to work hard to contribute to the party, to be responsible and have integrity.

'I want to bring in genuine reforms'

Khalid explained that he meant to bring about genuine reforms in policies and governance and not fight for these via street rallies.

On whether his campaign theme was more similar to BN and Umno's "transformasi" call, and whether he had been "bought over", Khalid retorted that if a leader is good, even BN members would support him or her.

He admitted he was criticised over Selangor's water deal with Putrajaya, which his critics perceived to be favouring the federal government, but said he does not mind working with BN for the benefit of the people.

"It is not that I cannot be bought but if I could, it would have happened long ago. That is why I want to become a deputy chief because I would be more expensive then," he quipped.

During the question-and-answer session, a supporter urged Khalid to pay more attention to state divisions and state chiefs instead of allowing them to be influenced by cronies, saying that the situation in Penang was much worse in PKR than in the BN.

"That's why we want genuine reformasi, we do not want cronies or yes men," the party member said.