Wan Azizah set to win Kajang seat

DR WAN Azizah Wan Ismail is assured of victory in the Kajang by-election just as her husband Anwar Ibrahim's hopes of becoming the next Selangor Menteri Besar have been dashed after his sodomy conviction.

On Tuesday, Dr Wan Azizah, who is president of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), filed her nomination papers for the Kajang state seat in a straight fight with Barisan Nasional's Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun, a former deputy minister. Voting will take place on March 23 after a 12-day campaign.

The initial hype surrounding the Kajang by-election was over how it would parachute Anwar into Selangor. It would also pave the way for the opposition leader to take over as Menteri Besar, thereby ending a bitter dispute between two PKR heavyweights, Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim and PKR deputy president Azmin Ali.

That plan, dubbed the Kajang Move, was foiled last week when the Court of Appeal overturned the High Court's acquittal of Anwar in 2012 and sentenced him to five years' jail instead.

The jail sentence effectively blocked Anwar from contesting in Kajang. He is appealing against the conviction.

Analysts do not think the by-election will resolve the bad blood in the PKR camp, which arose over unhappiness with Tan Sri Khalid's lone-ranger administrative style.

Mr Khalid says he will remain Selangor chief minister.

"The party is not focused on the Menteri Besar issue anymore," he told The Straits Times on Tuesday. "As far as the party is concerned, I am still the Menteri Besar."

Dr Faisal Hazis, a political analyst at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, said that with Dr Wan Azizah in Kajang, Anwar may still be able to make a comeback in Selangor in the future.

There has already been a precedent. In 2008, Dr Wan Azizah stepped down from the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat in Penang that she had won in 1999. This allowed Anwar to regain the seat in a subsequent by-election.

But with Anwar likely to be put behind bars in the next few years, the PKR may not have enough time to consolidate its position amid the intense infighting ahead of the next general election.

"PKR may still have plans to remove Mr Khalid, but whether it can persuade him to step down or convince other parties in the Pakatan Rakyat coalition to support its decision is another matter," Dr Faisal said. "Without Anwar, this plan has been sidetracked."

Pakatan comprises PKR, the Democratic Action Party and the Parti Islam SeMalaysia.

Mr Khalid is well-liked by voters for his shrewd management of state finances but he made some missteps recently. These included the mishandling of a January raid by the state Islamic authorities, which seized Malay-language Bibles, and tripling the salaries of state executive members last November.

Professor Shaharuddin Badaruddin, a political analyst at Universiti Teknologi Mara, said the Kajang Move is not necessarily a failure, given that more pressing national issues such as the federal government's promise of national reconciliation and search efforts for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet have cropped up.

"These issues give PKR more reason to seek a referendum from the people on what they want," he told The Straits Times.

"And if the party gets more support in this by-election, it shows PKR is still very much in the game."

yyennie@sph.com.sg

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