Azmin masuk pejabat...

Azmin akan manfaatkan rizab tunai RM3 bilion...

Dalam ucapan sulungnya selepas dilantik sebagai menteri besar Selangor yang baharu, Azmin Ali berikrar untuk memanfaatkan rizab tunai RM3 bilion dalam perbendaharaan negeri Selangor untuk "manfaat rakyat Selangor".

Menurut Azmin, beliau tidak mahu rizab itu kekal di atas kertas semata-mata.

"Setiap sen dana negeri Selangor adalah milik rakyat dan bukan milik pemimpin.

"Cara saya dana itu bukan di atas kertas tetapi diterjemahkan kepada program yang dapat memberi manfaat kepada rakyat Selangor," katanya dalam ucapan di hadapan rumah ibunya di Kampung Klang Gate Baru, Hulu Kelang, tengah hari ini.

Dalam ucapan sama, Azmin berikrar untuk menjalankan tugas secara turun padang dengan mendekati sendiri masalah penduduk Selangor.

"Banyak kerja yang tertangguh selama dua bulan ini.

"Cara kerja saya bukan dengan tie (tali leher) dan kot tetapi dengan lengan pendek dan seluar panjang... turun ke daerah untuk mendengar sendiri masalah rakyat dan selesaikan semuanya," katanya.

Terus masuk pejabat

Beliau memaklumkan orang ramai yang beliau akan terus ke pejabat menteri besar pada petang ini juga untuk membincangkan pelantikan exco yang akan diumumkan pada hari Jumaat ini.

"Saya juga akan masuk ke pejabat petang ini untuk berbincang tentang barisan exco yang baru," katanya.

Beliau turut berhasrat meningkatkan imej penjawat-penjawat awam Selangor untuk lebih dikenali sebagai penjawat awam yang cekap apabila bekerja dalam satu pasukan.

"Saya akan mengangkat martabat penjawat awam di negeri Selangor sebagai pasukan yang boleh menjalankan tanggungjawab secara kolektif," katanya dalam ucapan di hadapan kira-kira 300 orang hadirin.

Hadirin yang hadir rata-ratanya kelihatan ceria walaupun cuaca panas terik.

Mereka menghadiri kenduri kesyukuran yang diadakan di perkarangan rumah ibu Azmin, Che Tom Yahya di Kampung Klang Gate Baru, Ulu Klang.

Terdahulu, beliau berikrar untuk terus melaksanakan tanggungjawabnya sebagai menteri besar baru dalam mengekalkan keharmonian di Selangor bermula hari ini.

Imamkan 300 orang

Beliau berkata demikian dalam ucapan ringkas selepas mengimamkan solat Zuhur berjemaah di masjid berhampiran rumah ibunya, Masjid Kampung Klang Gate Baru, Hulu Kelang pada jam 1.25 tengah hari tadi.

"Amanah ini bukan satu keistimewaan tetapi tanggungjawab yang cukup besar untuk mengangkat martabat orang Melayu-Islam khususnya.

"Saya harap dengan dokongan tuan-tuan saya dapat jalankan tanggungjawab ini dengan jujur dan ikhlas kerana akhirnya saya perlu menjawab pada Allah Taala.

"Jadi saya berharap sekarang adalah waktu untuk kita mula bekerja.

"Saya juga telah menerima akujanji dengan Tuanku Sultan Selangor untuk menjaga keharmonian di negeri ini," katanya dalam ucapan tersebut di hadapan kira-kira 300 orang menyertai solat Zuhur berjemaah diimamkan Azmin.

Satu kenduri kesyukuran menyambut pelantikan Azmin sebagai MB akan berlangsung pada bermula jam 2.30 petang ini di kediaman ibunya di kampung yang sama.

Azmin mengangkat sumpah sebagai MB baharu menggantikan Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim di Istana Alam Shah Klang, pagi tadi.- mk 

Exco Selangor baharu angkat sumpah Jumaat ini

An open letter to Azmin Ali, Menteri Besar of Selangor

No coat and tie for this once goatherd MB...

In his maiden speech as Selangor's 15th menteri besar, Azmin Ali took a stroll down memory lane, revealing how he had been a goatherd and even reared chickens during his childhood.

Speaking at Kampung Klang Gate, the PKR deputy president said his late father was one of those who opened the land there and the proof is his house number, which is "1E".

"I looked after goats in this village. I am not a son of a trader or worker.

"I have reared chicken in this village and because of the prayers of my father and mother, I have been given the responsibility as the new menteri besar," he added.

Azmin delivered this brief speech to about 300 people and supporters at a thanksgiving feast at the home of his mother, Che Tom Yahya.

He had earlier led the zohor prayers at the Klang Gate mosque.

Strained family ties 

Azmin's ties with his family, including his 80-year-old mother, have been strained because of his political involvement.

In 2012, his mother pleaded with her son to break free from opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, claiming that he would be a better son if he did that.

"After every prayer, I ask God to help my son break free from Anwar, and return to the righteous path," she was quoted as saying by The Star.

In the same report, Azmin's sister Umi Hafilda (right), a staunch critic of Anwar, said she would stop all forms of attack against her brother if he left Anwar for good.

"I am now on a drive to expose all the dirt about my brother, his wife Shamsidar Tahrin and Anwar," she had said.

The issue was widely reported in other pro-government media, prompting Azmin to lash out at Umno, telling them not to drag his mother into the political battle.

The Gombak MP had also denied his mother's allegation that he had been belligerent to her

'No coat and tie is my style'

Meanwhile, Azmin said he would fully utilise the RM3 billion Selangor funds reserve, which he said is held for the benefit of the "Selangor people".

The fund, he said, belongs to the people and it is not owned by any leader.

"The fund will be translated with various programmes for the benefit of Selangor people," Azmin said, adding that he would go to the ground and see the problems faced by the people.

Work in the state, he said, had been delayed for two months.

He said this in reference to the state's imbroglio following the protracted battle on who would replace former corporate leader Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.

"My style of work is not only wearing a tie and coat but in wearing short sleeved shirt and long pants... I will go to the ground and hear for myself the problems faced by the people and try and resolve them," Azmin said.

He said he would go to the Selangor state building later to discuss the appointment of the new executive council members.

He also pledged to uplift the dignity of the state civil servants so that they could work as a team.- mk

The failure of PKR’s Kajang Move...

PKR's "Kajang Move" has failed, say analysts, pointing out the complicated political manoeuvre was to remove Selangor Menteri Besar (MB) Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim and ensure his political foe Azmin Ali denied the top post in the country's wealthiest state.

But that did not happen.

Instead, the party number two and Bukit Antarabangsa assemblyman will be sworn in as the 15th Selangor MB today, a blow to party de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who was gunning for the post but dropped out due to a court case.

Instead, Anwar put his wife, PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail up for the job, only to be met with opposition from the palace and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) partner, PAS.

Analysts said the strategy has failed to earn the multi-racial party goodwill from Selangor voters who are fed up with the MB issue, which dragged on for eight months.

"The Kajang Move has obviously not worked. The first target was to make Anwar the candidate but that had failed," said Wan Saiful Wan Jan (pic, right).

Anwar was to contest the Kajang state by-election, but opted out after he faced jail when the Court of Appeal found him guilty of sodomising his former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

"Then they wanted Dr Wan Azizah but that too has failed," added Wan Saiful, who heads think tank Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas).

Wan Saiful said PKR's hopes that the strategy would boost support for the party and the PR pact, also "failed miserably".

"Instead the level of support has dwindled significantly. Whoever planned the Kajang Move did not think this through and someone needs to take responsibility for this mess," he said.

Although Wan Saiful(pic,below) believed Azmin will be a better MB than Khalid who was more a corporate man than a politician, he said it was not right for Azmin to accept the post based on democratic principles.

"I've always believed she is not the best candidate for MB and that is mainly because it will create criticisms and distrust whenever she makes decisions... she will not be seen as a proper MB but as a puppet and regardless whether it's true or not, that's the perception.

"Personally, Azmin might be a better candidate for the post but I do feel it's wrong as a matter of principle in democratic practices," he said, adding that Dr Wan Azizah had support from 29 assemblymen, giving her the majority needed to be appointed as MB.

Dr Oh Ei Su, of Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, gave the Kajang Move a paltry success rate of 33%, saying it only succeeded in removing Khalid, and that too after a long impasse.

Oh said Azmin's vast political experience was needed in handling the intricate politics of administering Malaysia's most prosperous state.

"In the short term, there will be an outcry from within PKR but I think it will soon subside as he will move quickly to placate disgruntled party men or through other means of largesse," he added.

Political analyst, Dr Arnold Puyok (pic, below), said the Kajang Move had taken a toll on both PR and the Selangor people.

"More and more people now regard that it was conceived not to address the Selangor domestic problems but purely to consolidate the power of certain factions in Pakatan. The Kajang Move and the MB crisis were bad for the opposition.

"The only way to resolve this is to go back to the people," said the head of International Relations and Politics department in Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, agreeing to call for fresh polls.

Independent analyst Khoo Kay Peng, on the other hand, said the architect of the Kajang Move, PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli, would still insist the strategy's success in removing Khalid.

Khoo believes Azmin will rise to become a powerful leader because as MB, he would have access to the state's vast resources, including its burgeoning funds.

"He is a political animal and he knows how to build his base and he will pose a threat to the anti-Azmin factions.

"But if he is smart enough, he will use his influence to win over his detractors and if it is successful, it can see him possibly become a top leader to lead PKR," he said, adding that Azmin will however not take on his mentor Anwar for fear of a political backlash. – tmi

cheers.