PKR Perak : Of promises, hopes, goodbyes and ...

Finally, it has come to this. Behrang assemblyman Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi has quit PKR. It is further speculated that Chang­kat Jering state assemblyman Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu.may follow suit soon. Although Jamaluddin claims that he will remain independent for the time being, pointers are indicating that he will be joining into BN ranks soon.

And when it rains, it pours so sayeth the wise men. Adding to the drama is the whereabouts of Deputy speaker Hee Yit Foong. Perak DAP chief admitted that he has not seen Hee during the official function in conjunction with Sultan Azlan's silver jubilee whilst a commentator to Malaysian Insider posted "Please get your facts from reliable source one of 2 cousins in DAP must be blind. The assemblywoman concern (Hee) was comfirm present at the Royal function this morning. She was sitting right behind PKR Exco member YB Tai. Please be informed."

This scribe commented in Malaysia today, amongst others, as follows :

"What I see right now is that the Sultan of Perak, a former CJ, will have to play a more active role i.e. to mediate with both BN and PR. The MB has the rights to get the royal consent to dissolve the state assembly and call for a fresh election and whoever wins will get the mandate to govern Perak. If this happens, then Perakians have to go through another round of election process i.e. nomination, campaigning, voting, counting the votes, swearing in of MB, swearing in of ADUNs', swearing in of EXCOs' etc etc. This will be time consuming as well as cost consuming. And we have not discounted on the charges and appeals if there are any legal suits that follow.

This is not the time to gain for bragging rights of BN winning by so and so seats or PR finishing off BN in Perak. What is more important is that, the political stability is essentially needed to cope with the coming economic turmoil. Both sides should be jointly working together to strategise ways and means to minimise the economic impact to the working class.

On the other hand, BN should be aware that the repercussion of EC's decision is far reaching. If the "resignation" letters are invalid, what will stop BN lawmakers to join PR en masse? This decision is surely double edge, indeed.

Recognising these factors, the possible way out is for the Sultan to "decree" that the quo status remains i.e. both PR "missing" assemblymen stays on as PR and no crossover will be accepted in Perak until the next coming GE. This is not anti hopping law but a decree from the Sultan who rules the state, which is to be acknowledged and accepted by Perak subjects.

Of course, there will be factions who wanted to go for the jugular and make the "kill". But before doing so, please give a second to think - Is it worth it? The normal day to day citizens wants life to goes on. This political games are long overdue and only ppl like Musa Hitam and Rais Yatim likes to hang on to it for their personal survival, gains and recognition.

Finally, do BN wants to go for another state election when BN has to readies itself for Sarawak state election, UMNO elections, MIC elections etc etc? think well before someone make the silly move of shooting on his own foot..."

Kelantan government was in the same precarious position 4 years back but they survived. Would PR Perak survived? This scribe says no, PR Perak will not survive because of the following reason (s) :-

1. PR Perak is basically moulded from the joint effort of 3 friendly parties, DAP, PKR and PAS. To meet the palace requirements, the MB seat was given to PAS, as he was the most eligible at the time.
2. This decision breeds some ill feelings, although not vocally, from other elected aspiring elective and at one stage leads to a temporary quiting of DAP rep, who subsequently appointed as the house speaker.
3. PR Perak should be honest in admitting that they did not forsee winning the state and thus are ill prepared to handle the situation. DAP and PKR were never directly involved in running the state administration, thus their elected reps who were later elevated to EXCO members and other posts were easily enticed with monetary gains leading to the corruption charges to Behrang and Changkat Jering reps. How do they intent to work themselves out? By selling their souls and abadoning the political machinery that mould them to what they are today.
4. PKR are basically ex-UMNO members and being UMNO members, financial gains is their priority no 1.
5. DAP, being too long in opposition party could not adjust themselves in the driver's seat. Compound with their inability to have good and far-sighted leaders in Perak, DAP has incidentally sidelined Hee Yot Foong. Remember how Fong of Batu Gajah nearly declined the candidacy for Batu Gajah parlimentary seat?
6. PAS could not guide the other partners in Perak because they are the least represented in the state assembly. Their small numbers becomes a disadvantage in exerting logical thinking to the rest.
7. After all this, PR has few options left i.e. either as this scribe mentioned earlier in the comment, for the Sultan to call all parties involved for the sake of his state or PR challenge the EC on their decision or PR seeks consent from the Sultan to dissolve the state assembly. If that happens, what next ?

If the state assembly is dissolved, the following scenario may happens :-

1. UMNO may not have the tactical advantage since the state election may coincides with their own party election, or UMNO may be suffering from serious fallout, if the state election is held after UMNO party election.
2. MIC may not have influence as they are also having their party election where Samy Vellu may be facing the toughest challenge of his political career.
3. MCA may disintegrate further due to the open confrontation between the President and his deputy. Perak being the home turf of older Ong (Ka Ting), it will see infighting between the various factions in MCA.
4. Gerakan and PPP may not be having a major contributing factor to the state ekection.
5. PKR may be having an identity crisis and may have to look deep inside in choosing able and capable candidates, those who will not crossover to BN.
6. DAP may have to resolve their own internal war where grassroot leaders are unhappy with the Nga cousins.
7. PAS may have to looks inward and keep their strength resolute, mirroring those of Kelantan assembly members.
8. Formerly buoyed by "winds of change", the Chinese voters may shy away from the PR coalition, choosing to stay in their "safety net", just like KT Chinese voters did.
9. The Malay voters will still remain at 49 - 51 % split i.e. no distinct advantage to either BN or PR.
10. The Indians will be swayed by current events, directly affecting their daily lifes. There may be a last minute swing to either sides.
11. Millions of ringgit will be spent when these millions can be utilised elsewhere to support our economy.
12. BN needs to win Perak badly tohave the bragging rights and to be in the advantage for Sarawak elections.
13. PR needs to retain Perak for them to convince the rest of the country that the "time for change" is now.
14. It will be another futile exercise where the politians will rue the day whilst the rest try to stay afloat in the economic crisis.
15. AAB may stay back for "1 last time", NTR will be "PM in waiting" forever.

This scribe feels that that is sufficient for the day...

In the end Changkat Jering and Behrang lets the people down when they failed to realise that the parties are the ones who make them and not the other way round. Alas, maybe it is just mirages...just like Mutiara Biru erecting signboards claiming that they are the ones undertaking the Ipoh - Padang Besar double track project...

Till then...G'nite M'sia...wherever u are...