In the year before GE13, Pakatan Rakyat – and especially Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng – claimed that crime was on the rise throughout Malaysia, that the Government was hiding this and that only in Pakatan-controlled states was the rakyat safe.

The elections have come and gone, so the situation may now return to normal. And – surprise, surprise – Guan Eng has admitted that crime is on the rise in Penang – still a Pakatan-controlled state – and has asked for the Federal Government's assistance.

Were the victims of crime Guan Eng and Pakatan's leadership rather than innocent people, the irony would be palpable.

Guan Eng has urged the police to step up surveillance and vigilance after the state apparently deemed it safe to admit that it has a crime problem. "Schools are also being broken into so we want the police to increase surveillance," he said at a press conference Wednesday, adding that unmanned prevention was not sufficient to arrest the crime increase. "Even though we have CCTVs, there were break-ins at schools; we hope the police focus on reducing crime rate in the state," he said.

Penang's voters might be forgiven if they wonder why this issue was not addressed before GE13, when many of the stories of an increasing crime rate seemed disproportionately to come from the DAP-run state. They might also wonder why Guan Eng did not ask for the Federal Government's assistance.

They might wonder, at the same moment, why Penang – held up as a shining example of the wonders that flow from Pakatan Rakyat governance – is experiencing an increase in the crime rate even as foreign direct investment into the state slows.

Modern theories of police work, embraced by the Government, hold that crime does not simply happen, but is instead a result of the surrounding environment. If there is a general disregard for the small parts of the law, major crime is more likely to happen. If small crimes go unpunished, major crimes are more likely.
This means that George Town is failing on two counts. It is fostering an environment conducive to crime, and it waited to ask for police deterrence until the crime rate had already climbed to the point at which it could not be denied.

It should be noted that Guan Eng, as is his personal tradition, has admitted no wrongdoing by his government, nor has he promised any change in how the state is run. He would not be Guan Eng if he had.
But if he failed in basic honesty in the lead-up to GE13 – as appears to be the case – he owes the rakyat that honesty now. He promised good governance; now is the time to deliver.

 Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Mukhriz Tun Dr Mahathir said he would campaign for Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and his deputy, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin if both leaders are challenged in the party election this year.

He said he did not see anyone else qualified for the two top party posts and capable of competing with the two leaders.

"If the top party posts, namely that of the president's, deputy president's and the three vice-presidents are being challenged, I preceive that Datuk Seri Najib and Tan Sri Muhyiddin will retain their posts. I personally will campaign for them," he told reporters after the swearing-in of the Political Secretary to the Kedah Menteri Besar at the Menteri Besar's Office at Wisma Darul Aman, here Wednesday.

At the ceremony, former Kedah Exco member, Datuk Azimi Daim, 49, was sworn-in as the Political Secretary to the Kedah Menteri Besar.

Mukhriz disclosed this when asked to comment on the call that the posts of Umno president and deputy president should not be contested at the party general assembly in October to further strengthen the party in facing the 14th general election besides avoiding factionalism in the party.

Mukhriz, who is also the deputy chairman of the Kedah Umno Liaison Committee, said that personally he felt that as a party that practiced democracy, every post in the party could be contested.

"It is up to the Umno members themselves to decide. For me, whether there is a contest or not, it is the rights of the Umno members themselves. Even if there is a contest, I am confident it will not affect the position of Datuk Seri Najib and Tan Sri Muhyiddin at all," he said.

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's poor management skills are finally taking their toll.
PKR grassroots and division leaders, understandably upset about a poorly-run general election campaign and PKR's subsequent net seat loss – including the loss of so-called 'safe' seats – have begun leaking details of PKR's shambolic approach to everything from candidate selection to internal party management to campaigning.

It is not a pretty picture.
The Choice reported yesterday, PKR division leaders and grassroots have run to Free Malaysia Today as the web portal of choice to air their grievances, likely because of The Malaysian Insider's strong pro-PKR bias and Malaysiakini's aversion to negative coverage of Opposition leaders. And so FMT has broken more news of grassroots discontent – and worse for Anwar – one of the greatest strikes possible against his potential leadership of anything more than a holiday outing.

"PKR has internal problems in every state, but these are especially serious in Kedah, Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang and Terengganu," a source told the web portal, explaining that this infighting dates back to 2008, and has gone unchecked by party leadership.

According to the sources who spoke to FMT, Anwar "often told grassroots leaders not to bother him with issues that could be resolved at the local levels."

"I agree to that 100 per cent," said a divisional leader. "Problems in the divisions should be settled at state level. But then, how do we do that when the state leaders themselves are squabbling?"

This was obviously the case in Selangor, one of the half-dozen states in which the infighting was "especially serious" and where battles between Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, party president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and deputy president Azmin Ali raged in the years before GE13.
Yet it now appears that this situation had spread to fully half the states.

The indictment against PKR's leadership is damning. Anwar, it has been alleged, was so intent on capturing Putrajaya, rewarding his cronies and appearing at ceramahs, that basic leadership was neglected. The party's nominal president Wan Azizah is nowhere to be heard in this story. Azmin is judged an incompetent who damaged PKR in Selangor. The party's secretary-general fouled a safe seat.
And the grassroots are livid, and willing to talk.

It is hard to imagine Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak allowing this sort of mess to fester in Umno or Barisan Nasional; that is perhaps why it has been reported that the grassroots are coalescing around him and mooting to simply have an uncontested Presidency this year at the Umno General Assembly.

It would rankle Anwar to hear this, but yet again, he could do worse than to learn from Najib.
It will be interesting to see what comes next for PKR's dirty linen airing – and it is now certain that there will be more.