By Syed Jaymal Zahiid
SHAH ALAM: Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim brushed aside today the attacks by fugitive blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin that the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leadership was slow to react against the ongoing assault by its political rivals.

The state’s PR government is currently facing an ongoing probe by graft-busters, MACC, and is also the target of a campaign by Umno portraying them as anti-Islam due to their moderate views on the “Allah” controversy.

PR have called it an onslaught to “destabilise” the state’s administration.

Talks are also rife that all this is part of a concerted bid to oust PR from the nation’s richest state and Raja Petra, a known PKR supporter, has been relentless in blasting Khalid and his allies for their supposed lack of eagerness to retaliate.

Khalid, however, said today that the coalition has different ways of doing things.

“The way we react to the Umno-Barisan Nasional (BN) attacks is by doing our job (as a government), by calling for such an event as today’s,” he said in a press conference after launching a convention held by Selangor’s PKR women’s wing.

The event became a platform for the state’s government leaders to launch various programmes aimed at elevating the status of women in the state through education and skill instillation initiatives.

“What BN wants to do is unsettle us but our reaction to this is to keep doing our job. Voters of Selangor voted us [in] so we would perform,” he said.

Khalid and his administration have been energetic in their charm offensives, often going to the ground to directly engage voters and promote what his government has described as “people-oriented” policies.

Among some of the many policies are the free water programme and burial allowances for the state’s inhabitants.

PR are also attempting to introduce participatory events where the electorate and government officials can directly address local issues.

Khalid said PR was well equipped to retaliate but the coalition must play its cards right.

“When the time is right to attack, we will attack,” commented the Selangor MB.

Courtesy: TheMalayasianInsider