Thursday, May 14, 2009

1 Perak : Line clear...start your engines

Don't get me wrong ! We are not "rempiting", not today anyway. After pitching hope, did you the crack of light at the end of the tunnel ? Yes, finally, there is new and rigorous efforts underway to have discussions aimed at ending the Perak political impasse.

Uncle Lim start the day when he announced that opposition leaders will meet to discuss on the issue. 1Malaysia PM 6 says that BN has no problem with meeting opposition for Perak's sake.

Why did Najib becomes suddenly receptive to the meeting with PR? Has it got something to do with the study that, in the event of Perak state wide election, BN will only manage to secure 17 seats at best? If that is teh case, what is the best option for both BN and PR to resolve the political impasse and what are the possible terms and conditions?

All along, to me, the best solution to break Perak political impasse is to compromise. The scenario for the discussion may go like this :-

On PR, they will come with the following requests :-

1. The MB position is still held by Nizar as per High court's judgement;
2. Sivakumar is still the legal speaker of Perak;
3. PR will seek audience HRH for State assembly dissolution and goes for state wide election;

BN will be coming with their sets of requests :-

1. That PR convene state assembly speaking with all suspensions to BN reps lifted;
2. PR to allow for "vote of no confidence" to MB be allowed and voted;
3. PR will call for termination of Siva as speaker and will nominate Ganesan as his replacement;
4. BN will not seek audience to ask for state wide election ;

Coming from 2 different factions, at first glance, their is no meeting point for the 2 parties. However, if both parties are truly sincere, then aan amicable solution can still be worked out which will benefit both sides. The possible solutions, and have been written so many times before, are :-

1. Both agree to the formation of unity government. Although this is the best solution but its chances is the most remote;
2. For the 2nd best solution, HRH with support from both BN and PR, will pressure the reps of Behrang and Changkat Jering to vacate their seats and call for by election. From thereon, the paty with more seat will be chosen to govern the Perak state. Additional conditions and terms will be discussed later;
3. For other possible solution, all the 4 reps that plunge Perak into this quidmire will be asked and pursuaded to vacate their seats. The party with more seats after the by elections will govern the state;
4. The last possible solution is for HRH to dissolve the state assembly and let the rakyat deides. This will be most welcome by PR and most dreaded by BN;
5. An outside chance of possible solution is for PR to allow the "vote of no confidence" in the state assembly and let the reps to decide who shall be their MB.

For solutions 1,2,3 and 5 to work, both parties must agree to a certain sets of terms and conditions applicable to Perak only and valif until GE 13. These are :-

1. Both parties agree that they will not entertain any request for party hopping;
2. Both parties agree that they will not accept any friendly opposition to support them, in cases leading to possible change of government;
3. Both parties agree to follow the rules and regulations of the state assembly;
4. Both parties agree, that whoever is the opposition in the government will be elected as Chairman of PAC;
5. Both parties agree to set up ombudsman committee to monitor the state reps with the Chairperson rotated between PR and BN at regular intervals

Both parties must realise that the prolong political impasse is getting nowhere. Instead of moving forward, the issue is becoming a burden and an embarassment to Malaysia. Both parties must be ready to slack and resolve the issue to rakyat's benefit. As said many times before too, leave the egos outside the meeting room.

Time is of essence, get straight to discussion, do not stop. And hopefully when the appelate court sits on 18th may 2009, both parties can approach the bench and said that we have agreed to resolve the issue out of court...

Am I dreaming? I don't know, it is too hot to dream anyway.....let's do it for Perak, let's do it for Malaysia...let's do it for democracy and transparency....people first, action now...and if 1Malaysia PM6 cares, bloggers can be the mediators, for Perak's sake...are you ready???


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

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well,
It should extend to Malaysia Parliment. Then, it's fair

looes74

nightcaller said...

Dear anon 8:52,

step by step, sir. We have to wal before we run, lest we fall along the way.

Let us step small and ask for 1 Perak model. Ifit works for Perak, it may work on Feeral level. The key word is together.

Anonymous said...

Nightcaller,
Have you seen any opposition PAC chairman in any state or national assembly? No way Jose!
Still, the only solution is to dissolve the state assembly. No way around. And leave the Perak state alone.
I would even go further to remove all JKKP

looes74

Anonymous said...

Nightcaller,
By the way, dealing with sly Najib would require Anwar & Pakatan to minute everything. Every conservation & documents to be minuted.
Expose BN when they try to be funny. I remember how Singapore Grand Old Man FRIED The M with exposed letters on Water Issues

looes74

nightcaller said...

looes74,

Although there are growing calls for statewide elections for Perak, I for one, disagree. For me, the solution is to go for by 2 by elections ie Behrang and Changkat Jering. They are the actual cause for the whole Perak fiasco...I mean, of course PR is gunning for statewide election since they think they can get more seats than before but pls take into account that the rakyat has given a majority for PR to govern the state with strong opposition to keep PR government in check and balance situation but PR has partially failed because it is their reps that abandon the rakyat (Behrang, Changkat Jering and Jelapang)...so why must the rakyat go through the election again when it was PR reps who has initially abandon the rakyat? And due to the circumstances, beyond our control, the rakyat is going to give a bigger majority to PR in the elections as rewards for PR's incompetence in selecting the right and loyal candidates???

On catching up with sly Najib and Anwar..let's do it this way...after they have jointly agreed on all the pertinent points, get it sign and choose either to publish for public or put under lawyer's guidance. Any breach of agreement, get it out and show to all and sundry who breaks the agreement.

I can go on but suffice to say that I am for by elections (but only for min of 2 and max of 4). If PR get its way to convince HRH to dissolve the state assembly, then the real winner is of course PR and at the same time PR can camourflage their shortcomings by declaring it is the rakyat's decision. and we the rakyat gets suckered again ...as in "ayam menang, kampung tergadai...."

think about it....

zorro said...

Nightcaller, what if HRH will not entertain anybody. It is said that whilst he was in town and never left the country, he delegated his son to do the needful on 7 May. What then? But how long can you hide from your people, yes? Good nite, friend!

Anonymous said...

Nightcaller, strongly suggest you to read the history of PAP. Try books from Alex Josey. I'd explain in detail on this topic. What Pakatan going's exactly the same what Lee & his lieutenants gone through during the early of PAP. In fact, DAP modelled after PAP. Well, got to stop here. Looes74

nightcaller said...

Zorro,

Eventhough HRH may be in town all this while, we have to give some leeway to HRH since he may be attending to his elder brother (who we all later learned passed away on May 13, 2009). For this reason alone, I will allow HRH to grieve in peace...

My take is HRH could not manouvre much since the 3 has become BN friendlies which effectively makes BN the majority in Perak. Frankly, the whole episode leads back to SPR who questions the 3 reps "resignation" letters. The SPR's job is to manage elections not to question on the resignations' validity. So,in short, HRH has to bear the brunt due to SPR's incompentencies.

And I trust that Perak political impasse will not happen if SPR were to conduct the 3 by elections.

looes74,

I have to admit hat I do not know much in detail about PAP history. Will look out for the book as mentioned. Thks.

Anonymous said...

hmm. interestin, but usually when looking at a situation like this, there is really nothing PM can negotiate on. End of the day we could model it as a game with 2 outcomes.
Outcome I - No dissolution
BN wins
Pakatan loses
Perak still remains in stalemate

Outcome II - Dissolution
BN loses
Pakatan wins
Pakatan wins 2/3 majority
More pressure on PM
Pakatan wins again, as UMNO self destructs
Change at the top???

I think dissolution will happen, but there is a likelyhood that PKR will get shafted by PAS and DAP. The next Perak SG will not have to fight BN, it will be busy fighting each other. As is usual the case in realpolitik, unfortunately, there is an outside chance that PM Najib may not be around to witness the real effect of this takeover i.e. a reverse takeover when PAS finds it cannot work with DAP and swears alligence to the next incoming UMNO president.

nightcaller said...

WJ

Pragmatically outcome 1 is going to happen. To be fair to both BN and PR, SPR reverse its decision and "recognise" the resignation of Behrang, Changkat Jering and Jelapang. PR regains Perak with 31 seats.

If HRH dissolves the assembly, the biggest winner is PKR where they capitalise on the situation which bacically arise from their failure to choose proper candidates (who later won the seats and turn BN friendlies).

Too idealistics, perhapa...but I am a sucker for nice endings so I choose outcome I with PR governing Perak (again)...

Anonymous said...

Nightcaller,
I am back again. Acyually, if you have looked at PAP which is the predecessor for DAP particularly the Malayan branch, you would have see the similar traits.
You see in the race of establishing a broadbase party covering all strata of communities in Singapore, LKY & his lieutenants struck a deal with the leftist/communist leaning leaderships. One of them is Devan Nair, the founder of DAP in Malaysia. During that time, the idea was very similar, grab as many people as possible to stand for elections. At that time, unscrupulous people went in. One of them is Hong Lim MP, former Singapore mayor, Hee equivalent, quite meglomaniac fella.
My point is even with stringent scrutiny such as PAP even now, there are still unscrupulous people still able sift through. Hence, it's really depend on Pakatan Rakyat's top leadership's ability of handling these issues.
PAP leadership is one good example. Something that we can learn and studied.

Nightcaller,
Anwar, LKY & Hadi should choose the right leaders for the right job. PAP has a visionary & charismatic leader - LKY. A talented Organising chairman - Toh Chin Chye (hails from Taiping. Me too). A good treasurer - Goh Keng Swee. Siew Sin's cousin. One good leader handling the labour front - Devan Nair. The lagendary Rajaratnam (Hails from Seremban) - A truly oratory spokeman that bring across its areas across to the masses.
Ketuanan Rakyat is nothing new. LKY & his lieutenants have been fighting for this 40 years. Read through History of Singapore especially Singapore 2 years in Malaysia and you would know what I mean. Then, procession where portraits of Malay, Chinese, Indian & Eurasian holding hand in hand with this message below:

MAJULAH MALAYSIA

I kinda like their national anthem.

Mari Kita rakyat Malaysia
Sama2 menuju bahagia
Dengan cita2 yang mulia
Majulah Malaysia

Marilah Kita Bersatu
Dengan Semangat yang Baru
Semoga kita menyeru
Majulah Malaysia x2

Purposely change it to Malaysia. It's simply beautiful as it's all about rakyat, rakyat, rakyat

looes74

Anonymous said...

eer looses74, what are you smokin???

nightcaller said...

Dear looes 74

2 things :

1. You mention that PAP in their early days struck a deal with the leftist/communist. So, that said and with communist being quite influential during the early post WW II, PAP manage to gain enough support to win Singapore. Don't u think that Tunku Abdul Rahman to cut off PAP, to prevent the leftist/communist influence to spread to the whole peninsular Malaysia a correct, appropriate and timely move? And yes, DAP is the offshoot of PAP but through the years it has detached from PAP and evolved in its own way wit its own sets of principles.

2. I will not comment much on our neighbour country. Suffice to say that PAP has evolved too and along the way has diverted from its own initial principles.

Anonymous said...

Nightcaller,
It's also at the initiative of LKY of getting rid of Communist bloc. Mutual interest by LKY & Tunku. The same policy employed even by Anwar now. Hence, it would be a very good case study
Well, I don't think Anwar is wrong in pursuing his dream. He's still young at 62. However, it's really depends on Anwar, Hadi & LKY ability of steering through the hurdles.

Nightcaller,
Just like in WW2. We need to settle our common enemy first. Then, we sort out the arrangement later. I am more supportive of DAP. Like Tunku Abdul Aziz, it's the best political party ever had for Malaysia
Yup, some principles might have changes. Malaysia Malaysia policy still remains. It sings in rightly with Ketuan Rakyat as well as one Malaysia
Once Malaysia is having similar government policies just like our Asean neighbours including Indonesia & Singapore, we can move on further in strenghtening ASEAN.
Yup, I too quite idealistic

nightcaller said...

On settling the common enemy, pls read my posting today (unfortunatly it is in Bahasa Malaysia) http://dnightcaller.blogspot.com/2009/05/pkr-anwar-dipersimpangansatu-penilaian.html.

And I hope taht u have typo error when u mention Anwar, Hadi & LKY (?) in the same breath. Do u mean LKS?

As I say in that posting, I am quite worried with PKR front as most of the by elections called today arise from Anwar's failure to filter out the underperforming/unsuitable candidates.

As once the common enemy falls, I foresee a mad scramble for the bounty...and that is why I see opportunists joining PKR's bandwagon.

Anonymous said...

Nightcaller,
Thanks for the correction. It's LKS.
Anwar just like LKY in PAP need to make a correct decision in filtering out opportunists. It could have led to splitting up of the party. Especially when one have charismatic Indian chiefs running about.
In any organisation, can't really control 100%. Even LKY in the 80s when PAP is super strong can't ensure that PAP is super clean.
2 good examples. Lee Yock Suan, intellect but does not possess minister calibre. Second one is Teh Chiang Wan (born in KL), Minister of National Development of Singapore. He commited suicide before he's charged for corruption.

Nightcaller,
Guess what! No followup thereafter. Even Chiam hounding PAP like mad. Even worst than that Fairus

Anonymous said...

Nightcaller,
By the way, I got to stop talking about Teh Chiang Wan. He has rested in peace. Lets bygones be bygones. No nice. Especially he was once a Malaysian

nightcaller said...

Looes74

Even with PAP no nonsense approach could not filter out the opportunistic leaders, what more Anwar where most of the current crop of leaders are from his "reformasi" days. To me, most of PKR's supporters (who happened to be strong ex-UMNO supporters) are there because they "hero worshipped" Anwar. What happened after that?

In PAP case, their controlled media and "authoutorian" style of LKY plus their election syatem did not allow the opposition breathing space and opportunity to voice PAP's mismanagement in parliament. On top of that LKY dispose a number of the PAP's founding fathers so that he can continue leading PAP.

LKY's aggressive style of hounding his political nemesis, Jeya, should also be noted.

As I said it earlier in my previous reply, I try not to comment too much on our neighbour's politics and its best that I stop here.

In Anwar's case, he lost (rid) a good soldier in Ezam Nor. Beyond that, he has only a handful of capable leaders to support him whilst some of his former staunchest supporters are in other opposition parties.

Anonymous said...

Nightcaller,
OK, it's fine with me. Got mto respect your wishes. However, me being in Singapore for too long. I look things from different perspective.
However, it's good to have our neighbour's politics as case study. Yup, reference.
The whole point is to draw you to a point that however perfect the political organisation is, there are still opportunists
Hence, it's the quality of top leaders very important. Plus, need to choose the right people for the right job.

Nightcaller,
I believe Anwar knew the predicament ver well. Anyway, I am more closer to DAP's struggle. Always has been, always will be

looes74

P.S : You are half correct about the present PAP, LKY & Singapore system. Basically, the idea is to raise the stake too high that any political party who eventually take over is much better than PAP.
It'd be landslide. I shall comment more on Perak topics. I am a Perakian. Plenty of Perakians here. Either PR or Citizens. One of the prominent ones is the Chief Justice of Singapore born in Ipoh. Strangely, my hometown produces some good Judges. NH Chan, ring a bell

nightcaller said...

Looes74

Points noted. Yes, there are many famous Perakians, not only in Malaysia but also in neighbouring Singapore.

Not only NH Chan, HRH and if I am not mistaken, Suffian (?) the former CJ is from Lenggong, Perak.

Presently, the current CEO of Celcom and his CIO is also from Lenggong, Perak.

That's not surprising since MCKK, KE are in Perak and even the friendly Zorro is also from Perak.

Perak also score many historic first and the Lenggong man indicated that Perak was once an important pre-historic route.

Heh heh, just to get u a little bit of nostalgic with Perak...especially Taiping.

Ending with "the grass seems to be greener on the other side of the fence"...but always remember "Hujan emas dinegeri orang, hujan batu dinegeri sendiri, lebih baik dinegeri sendiri..."

G'nite Looes 74