SEPT 6 — “Selamat Berpuasa” to my fellow Muslims! May this Ramadan bring goodwill upon you and your family. Right, we’re done with the pleasantries; let’s get down to the real issues concerning Selangor.

It caused quite a commotion when the story of support letters linked to Ronnie Liu first surfaced. From tweet updates based on a Hong Kong movie, to suspensions and disciplinary action, it was quite a drama. But what amazes me, more than Teng Chang Khim’s tweets which were supposedly related to “14 Blades”, is the reaction by some quarters regarding this incident — how this was never heard off, how can DAP have this kind of thing? Cronyism? Aren’t DAP politicians supposed to be idealistic democratic fighters who sacrificed all of their worldly desires to reach a political nirvana? What are you, Boy Scouts?

Ever since Pakatan Rakyat took over the Selangor state government, the number of entertainment outlet licences has skyrocketed. Coincidentally, the executive councillor in charge of issuing these licences is the very same Ronnie Liu.

Now this is his portfolio, but that does tell you that ever since Pakatan Rakyat has been in power, Liu has been quite busy issuing more things than just support letters (or at least only his ex-aide did that, as he claims).

To understand how Selangor is run, one has to look at the state exco’s line-up. Although a mentri besar holds the top post, the state is being run by three different parties with various responsibilities.

PAS is in charge of religious issues, i.e. anything related to mosques and Malays in general; PKR on the other hand, apart from administration, handles all of the social portfolios, environmentalist policies, charity and non-Muslim religious affairs; while DAP runs the economic sector, local government, industries and investments. Or as one Umno branch leader concluded in a coffeeshop banter: “Bawah Tan Sri Khalid, PAS jaga Masjid, PKR luar masjid, DAP jaga duit.”

Underneath the sappy sloganeering of Merakyatkan Ekonomi, Negara Berkebajikan or Middle Malaysia (I always wondered how you translated that to BM), is this, a sort of divide and rule power-sharing concept?

As much as some of you would like to shout about transparency, good governance and what not, the reality is Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim did not get to where he is today without the hard work of thousands of party workers and the party machinery.

And now that he is in power he needs to take care of them to make sure it is well-oiled for the next elections. Elections cost money. Adding to the fact that there have been quite a few by-elections, the machinery is getting even more stretched and funds are really hard to get a hold of especially in Selangor when all of the economic portfolios are being guarded by DAP.

Which was why Selangor appointed Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as the state’s Economic Advisor with a wage of RM1. Now let’s be honest. Anwar Ibrahim was never much of an economist, and based on his credentials of almost screwing the country back in 1998, one certainly doubts that he is better at running the economy than a former Guthrie CEO.

The real reason behind this appointment was that Anwar Ibrahim had to ensure that the pie was evenly distributed and not monopolised by the few excos and their merry men.

Why do you think Azmin Ali’s revolt got so much support from his fellow MPs and he called for an exco reshuffle? Like it or not, as much as one would like to shout idealistic slogans, those MPs and assemblymen who backed Azmin Ali know that, in the end, to run political machinery you need funds and they’re not going to let DAP take control of that.

There are two sides to DAP.  There are the activists and young Turks who write reports and economic planning papers while engaging in debates on policies and implementation. This crowd grew after they won the 2008 general election; they wanted to ride the winds of change.

On the other hand, there is the grassroots “ketua kampung” and branch leaders who were there even when Karpal Singh lost his Parliamentary seat in 1999. The folks who collect donation money to make sure that when Lim Kit Siang arrives, the halls are booked and the tables are filled with food.

 People like Tee Boon Hock are not just ordinary aides whom DAP assemblymen appoint to help them out. The label of “aide” or assistant is usually given to party members who hold a significant rank or role.

The way political parties here work (whether BN or PR) is that in order to help implement the policies set by the state government , politicians will appoint influential non-elected party members into positions like local councillors, directors in state government-linked corporations, etc. People like Tee Boon Hock do the political work for YBs like Ronnie Liu because, as an elected representative, he can’t be seen as biased or helping out cronies.

It is the aide who ensures that party members, allies, supporters or “friends” who helped out during the last general elections get that licence to operate, that slot at the “pasar ramadan” or that drainage tender.

Hence it’s no bizarre coincidence that gaming licences are up ever since Ronnie Liu took over. It’s also no coincidence that the sand mining happened at a very convenient location.

Conclusion

It was reported that Karpal Singh commented that the young Turks in the party must understand the party’s long struggle and sacrifices. For a moment there, Karpal sounded very familiar and one could imagine him holding the post of home minister.

But the reason why DAP is so sensitive about this issue is that the national leaders realise that beneath the call for transparency, the party needs funding and it’s just a matter of how one deals with it in the eyes of the public and at the same time try to be legitimate.

From local councillors and excos to the unhappiness with fellow allies in Pakatan Rakyat, they’re having trouble dividing the pie. Thus comes the crux of Pakatan Rakyat’s problem today, real politics comes in and they’re having trouble dealing with it.

Of course, the real fireworks when it comes to real politics is PKR, but let’s keep that for another discussion, shall we?

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.