Anwar needed in Selangor to deter Putrajaya’s attacks: Rafizi

PETALING JAYA (Feb 4, 2014): The presence of Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is needed in Selangor to prevent the federal government suspending the state legislature by invoking emergency laws as happened in 1977 in Kelantan, PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli said today.
Rafizi revealed this was one of the main reasons behind Pakatan Rakyat's (PR) decision to have Anwar contest in the Kajang by-election. The seat fell vacant when incumbent assemblyman Lee Chin Cheh resigned last week and where Anwar was announced as the PKR candidate for the by-election.
Speaking at a press conference at PKR headquarters yesterday, Rafizi, who is Pandan MP, said it did not matter if Anwar were to represent Selangor as an executive council member or mentri besar, but that Anwar needed political legitimacy in the state.
"With the escalating racial and religious tension over the past months in Selangor, it would give the federal government under Umno 'endless possibilities' to interfere in state matters, as when it did when the Emergency Ordinance was invoked in Kelantan which led to the state government being suspended for some three months."