Anti-Kidex Group Optimistic

PETALING JAYA: Say No to Kidex (SNTK) today congratulated Mohamed Azmin Ali on his appointment as the Selangor Menteri Besar (MB) and expressed confidence that the “grassroots man” will do better than his predecessor in engaging with the public.

Speaking to FMT, the group’s vice-chairman, Selve Sugumaran, said, “We congratulate him on his appointment as the MB and we look forward to his serving Selangor to the best of his ability.”

He urged Azmin to review the Kidex agreement and other controversial agreements that former MB Khalid Ibrahim entered into on behalf of the state.

Selve said he was confident that Azmin would be better than Khalid in terms of transparency and accountability of governance as well as in connecting with the public.

“I’m optimistic,” he said. “The new MB is a grassroots man. I look forward to his engaging with the people when it comes to projects such as Kidex.

“Khalid was up in the clouds when it came to interacting with people and their concerns. He was a good administrator with strengths in mergers and acquisitions, but he failed as the people’s MB.”

Selve hopes that Azmin will follow through with his promise to be a “hands on” MB by allowing more dialogues between the state administration and groups like SNTK.

The sentiment was shared by former Petaling Jaya city councillor Mak Khuin Weng.

“Basically,” Mak said, “all we want is a clean and transparent government, which was not the case under Khalid.

“Under the previous administration, even elected officials were disconnected from the executive decisions when it came to mega projects.

“Pakatan Rakyat promised a lot of things during the 2013 election and I’m hopeful Azmin will deliver those promises of accountability and transparency.”

Azmin, speaking for the first time as the Selangor MB today, promised he would revisit some controversial agreements and issues associated with Khalid’s administration.