Pakatan will have to keep on its toes in Selangor
WHEN the general election was called on May 9 last year, the Selangor government was strong and the state economy thriving.
In the election, the opposition Barisan Nasional representatives in the state legislative assembly was reduced from 12 to four assemblymen.
But for the past year, things have not been going smoothly for the Pakatan Harapan government.
One sign of the mounting dissatisfaction of Pakatan from the people of Selangor was when Barisan managed to recapture the Semenyih state seat in a by-election in March this year that was won by Pakatan in GE14.
Universiti Malaya political analyst Dr Muhammad Asri Mohd Ali said the by-election was a clear message from the people to the state government that there is unhappiness over the unfulfilled promises by Pakatan.
“The people had sent a clear message to the Selangor government that they are unhappy with Pakatan’s promises that were not carried out,” he added.
Another big challenge faced by Selangor is the Federal Government’s plans to replicate some of the state’s socio-economic programmes at the national level. So, the state government, over the past year, needed to repackage as well as even do away with some of its programmes, much to the chagrin of the people.
“More people will benefit if the programmes are carried out at the national level. But the implementation is so slow and the Selangor government now looks bad after suspending its own programmes to make way for the Federal Government’s proposed programmes,” said a Selangor PKR elected representative who declined to be named.
He added one such programme was the RM2,500 death benefit payment for families of deceased senior citizens, which has been discontinued by the Selangor government beginning this month.
“That did not go down well with the people. But how are we to convince them that we had to discontinue it because we did not want to overlap with federal programmes?” said the elected representative.
Klang MP Charles Santiago said the onus was on the state government to explain to the people that they will not be denied of anything with the adjustments done to the state’s social welfare programmes.
“The people must be informed that the Selangor state government will still look after them and the proposed federal programmes will compliment what the state provides for the people in the future,” he added.
Another big headache for Selangor is the PAS and Barisan tie-up which seems to be getting stronger.
It is believed that some 4,000 grassroots supporters from the two parties are still employed by the state government in respective positions in rural towns and villages.
“That is something the state government will have to look into and sort out,” said Santiago.
The feud between Pakatan and PAS has also taken a heavy toll on the Selangor state government.
DAP is adamant on keeping the Islamist party out.
Former mentris besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim and Datuk Seri Azmin Ali knew that crossing swords with PAS may work against Pakatan in the rural and Malay dominated areas if Barisan came into the picture.
According to a senior academic who declined to be named, religion is a strong denominator in the Umno-PAS partnership.
“This collaboration is due to the perception that Islam is being undermined and the Malay interests are sidelined by the new government,” he said.
That is probably why Azmin, when he was the MB a few years ago, had proposed for an inclusive bloc among the Pakatan parties.
His proposal went unheeded, and during the past year, it has emerged that Pakatan’s lackadaisical approach towards the threat by PAS has begun to bite them.
Mentri Besar Amirudin Shari needs to counter these problems or the coming years will be a more difficult and challenging time for the Pakatan state government.
For the remaining state analyses, go to The Star’s special website on Pakatan Harapan’s first year anniversary in power at https://www. thestar.com.my/topics/2019/05/ 09/recalibrating-malaysia/