Was it a fluke? Or a well-executed plan?

YB Azmin Ali finally got what he wanted – to be the Menteri Besar of Selangor. What I am writing now is not based on facts but actually just a mere hypothesis of what I think could be the work of a genius.

No, I am not talking about the so-called master strategist Rafizi Ramli who would now claimed this is all part of Kajang Move. As far as I can remember, Azmin Ali fell out with Khalid Ibrahim months after the latter was re-appointed to the hot seat for the second term. Azmin was accused of playing victim in the PKNS sacking saga and worked from there on.

Unlike Rafizi, maybe Azmin played it from the Sultan to the bottom and now he succeeded in this strategy. The infamous “Agree on MB first and ask Sultan later” has proved to be the fatal mistake for the Panda MP’s Kajang Move. The Selangor Sultan has ignored the fact that Azmin is not Selangor-born and could also be a naturalized citizen of Malaysia, going against the tradition. In an earlier letter, the palace has admitted they would need to consider the candidates from outside of the nomination list.

PKR and DAP sent one sole candidate despite the decree of the Sultan requesting more than two names. PAS on the other hand, defied its central committee’s decision to put up Azmin and Wan Azizah (and later Mat Sabu’s rogue decision to agree on Wan Azizah only) and fielded three PAS assemblymen instead.

What the PAS President did was the right thing to do – to teach PKR that PAS is a no donkey party that Anwar Ibrahim could ride on.

Anyway, Azmin has always wanted the number 1 post of the state. An ambitious politician from UMNO, he threatened to “reveal all” right after Pakatan Rakyat’s defeat of the 13^th General Election, and of course, not selected to replace Khalid as Selangor’s Menteri Besar. The “Azmin reveals” episode ended up in a whimper presumably after Anwar had promised Azmin the post using “every power he can to oust Khalid”.

When Kajang Move was announced, Azmin knew his plan would work – starting by the removal of the super star Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim. He kept his cool and gave huge support to Anwar to become the new menteri besar of Malaysia’s richest state despite his supporters telling him Anwar has betrayed him of his promise.

Azmin is the man Anwar isn’t. He waited and waited and waited. He reconciled with his mother. He showed his loyalty in front of Anwar, he knew this day would come.

Assuming he had scored the trust of the Sultan by being chummy with him even before we know it, he knows he got the money in the bag, hopefully not the RM3billion Selangor reserve. He knew the Sultan would reject Anwar Ibrahim even if his sodomy verdict was not overturned. He knew the idea of a woman who would also be a remote-controlled Menteri Besar to take over the top post would not go well with the palace.

He knew all that because he has done his homework. While we all had our own hypothesis and opinions, we will never know if all this is a fluke or just a very well executed plan.

The interview he had with the Sultan the other day was just a reassurance. The rest were just an act.

Will the story end here? I personally do not favor Azmin to be my menteri besar but he is indeed the lesser of two evil between him and Anwar (not Azizah). Those young back-stabbing politicians who were rooting for Wan Azizah should now eat their words now if they were to be chummy with the new menteri besar. This is politics. And it is quite a big shit really. I wanted Khalid to stay. I am still angry with PAS not taking Khalid as a member and continue holding the position with grace. Yes. Grace.

Well, good bye Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim. You are without a doubt the best menteri besar we Selangor people ever had. As for Azmin (who would be awarded the Datuk Seri title in no time), you really have some big shoes to fill in the form of your enemy.

Or should I say, former enemy?