Azmin is new Selangor MB

SHAH ALAM: PKR Deputy President Azmin Ali has been appointed Selangor Menteri Besar to replace Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.
A letter sent to Azmin by the Selangor Palace this afternoon said the appointment is effective tomorrow.

The brief letter, signed by the Selangor Sultan’s private secretary Mohamad Munir Bani, asked Azmin to attend a swearing-in ceremony at the Istana Alam Shah in Klang at 10.30am.

Azmin represents Bukit Antarabangsa in the Selangor State Assembly.
His path to the MB’s post may well have been paved during a much publicised fallout with the outgoing MB, when he was unceremoniously sacked from the board of the Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS) in January 2014.

Amid rumours of intense rivalry between the two, Azmin proposed the removal of Khalid as the Selangor MB during a PKR Central Leadership Council meeting, but the proposal was snubbed by the party’s de-facto leader, Anwar Ibrahim.

However, a real possibility of his taking over the job became apparent after the unforeseen failure of the infamous Kajang Move.

Azmin seemed supportive of the party’s president and candidate for the MB post, Wan Azizah Ismail, and even withdrew from the running after PAS proposed his name along with Wan Azizah’s.

While the selection of Wan Azizah as a sole choice for the post was decided by PKR and unequivocally supported by DAP, the matter became slightly more complex when the Sultan of Selangor insisted on using his own discretion.

After weeks of intense speculation and deliberations, the Selangor MB saga has possibly reached its denouement. But there remains an element of uncertainty. It is yet to be seen whether the 30 assemblymen who have pledged their support for Wan Azizah will accept Azmin.

The Singapore-born Azmin graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in Economic and Mathematics and completed his graduate studies in Education in 1986.

He is one of the founding members of PKR.

-FMT