Hasan Ali: Signs of more troubles ahead?

It's unprecedented. A defiant Selangor PAS chief refusing to give in while his party colleagues are telling him to toe the line over the Select Committee for Competency, Accountability and Transparency. Hasan Ali is pissed off with Selcat, saying the panel should be revamped and that the grilling of civil servants has demoralised the staff.

But PAS' Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad has taken a shot at Hasan, saying he should play his role as a member of the Selangor state team. In short, he's not a team player. PAS vice president Mahfuz Omar wants Hasan to understand the rules and principles. To end it all, DAP secretary general Lim Guan Eng said Hasan did not know the extent of his powers and nature of his duties. Translated - don't go overboard, know your station in life.

All this sniping has given rise to a fresh round of speculation that things are not that cozy in the Selangor state government. The internal rivalry seems to keep cropping up. There is already talk of a crossover by one or two Pakatan Rakyat assemblymen after Hari Raya. Port Klang state assemblyman Badrul Hisham, for example, has stayed away from all PR and state government functions. The word is that he would make his stand known after the Hari Raya holidays.

The PR state government's biggest enemy is within, as newly recruited PR leader Zaid Ibrahim rightly put it in his blog. He asked what was the point of PAS promising in its manifesto to become a transparent government if the early genuine effort of Selcat had been opposed and challenged by the party, the Malaysian Mirror reported.