Should BN win the grounds or battles, before the war?

 

The past twelve days, the nation saw an ultra high adrenaline political ‘roller coaster’ ride in Perak; phenomenon unfamiliar in a Semenanjung mainstream politics. So much uncertainties and surprises sprung, were imposed upon us, some with razor-thin and nail-biting hour-by-hour game of the most updated political situations, stance and announcements. That got many political leaders, running around like wet and headless hens.

The latest developments as per yesterday evening showed Barisan Nasional (BN) managed to get the majority support in the Perak State Assembly, with the return of Bota Assemblyman Nasarudin back into UMNO and defection of three other Pakatan Rakyat (PR) in support of BN. Technically, BN is able to form the new Perak State Government and  PR, under the stewardship of PAS’s DAP-puppet MB Dato’ Seri Mohd. Nizar Jamaluddin and DAP infested Exco would have to step aside.

The Star has the story:

Thursday February 5, 2009

Barisan now has the majority in Perak State Assembly

Reports by SA’ODAH ELIAS, ZULKIFLI ABDUL RAHMAN, MAZWIN NIK ANIS, CHRISTINA KOH, CLARA CHOOI, CHAN LI LEEN, DHARMENDER SINGH, NG CHENG YEE, LEE YUK PENG, IAN MCINTYRE, A. LETCHUMANAN, IVAN LOH, FLORENCE A. SAMY and SYED AZHAR.

PUTRAJAYA: In a dramatic turn of events, a new government looks set to be formed in Perak, with Barisan Nasional now commanding the majority following the return of Bota state assemblyman Datuk Nasarudin Hashim to Umno and the support of three Independent wakil rakyat.

With the return of Nasarudin, Barisan now has 28 seats and the support of three “friendly Independents” – Behrang assemblyman Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi, Changkat Jering assemblyman Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu and Jelapang assemblyman Hee Yit Foong.

Pakatan Rakyat is left with 28 seats in the 59-seat Perak State Assembly but the seat held by the Speaker will have to be discounted as the Speaker cannot cast a vote in the assembly.

 

Over to you: Najib announcing the fall of the Perak state government with the four assemblymen Datuk Nasarudin Hashim (Bota, on Najib’s left), Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi (Behrang), Mohd Osman Jailu (Changkat Jering) and Hee Yit Foong (Jelapang, in white) at the press conference in Putrajaya. On Najib’s right is Minister in the PM’s Department and Bagan Datoh MP Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said he would be seeking an audience with the Sultan of Perak Sultan Azlan Shah to officially inform the Ruler that Barisan now has sufficient support to form the state government.

Perak Barisan Nasional secretary Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin confirmed that Najib would meet Sultan Azlan Shah today.

Earlier yesterday, during a press conference at his office, Najib, who is also Perak Barisan and Umno liaison committee chairman, said that Jamaluddin, Mohd Osman and Hee had informed him on Tuesday that they had sent a letter to the Sultan stating they had quit their respective parties.

“Today (yesterday) Bota assemblyman (Nasarudin) informed me that he would like to return to Umno.

“The wakil rakyat, including the three Independent assemblymen, have given me the mandate to come up with a list of names for the Mentri Besar’s post and have pledged to support the new Mentri Besar chosen by Barisan with the consent of the Sultan,” he said.

Najib said the four assemblymen had informed Perak State Assembly Speaker V. Sivakumar, PKR president Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng that they were no longer members of the respective parties.

“Hence, as stated under Article 16 of the Perak Constitution, if the Mentri Besar has lost the confidence or the majority, he will have to resign together with his exco members,” Najib said.

Nasarudin, Jamaluddin, Mohd Osman and Hee were present at the press conference. Barisan secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, Perak Umno liaison committee deputy chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and a majority of Barisan assemblymen from the state, including Chenderiang assemblyman Dr Mah Hang Soon were also in attendance.

Najib said there would be due process to follow before Barisan could form the Perak government.

He also denied allegations that Barisan had “bought” the wakil rakyat concerned, adding that the three would remain as Independents but “friendly Independents who will support Barisan”.

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Over the weekend, the two PKR ADUN of Behrang and Changkat Jering resigned from their party and were bent towards joining UMNO. As a pre-emptive strike measure, the State Assembly Speaker Sivakumar instantaneously accepted their pre-signed but undated resignation letters as a political defense to gamble on the Pakatan Rakyat razor thin majority in the recently acquired state.  A letter was sent to notify the Election Commission (EC) of these vacancies, to pave way for fresh by-elections.

EC met, deliberated and ruled out that the submitted resignations were not acceptable and the two YBs shall remain as where they were. The PR Perak State Government now is sitting right in a middle of a precarious fence.

In light of this political tension and confusion, PR saw the very strong possibility of them losing the Perak State Government. Unprecedentedly, last afternoon MB Nizar  announced the untimely dissolution of the Perak State Assembly before getting the consent of HRH Paduka Seri Sultan of Perak, in an effort to scuttle the boat and betting on getting fresh mandate with a state elections. This is something the DAP would prefer as oppose to PKR, which is thought to be more incline into the ‘cross-over-katak’ game.

MB Nizar failed and the validity of his 100pm announcement is questionable. At the same moment, DPM Dato’ Seri Mohd. Najib Tun Razak was confident in having the support of the four ADUNS and proudly announced BN ‘hostile take over’ of the Perak State Government. Now, the most popular game everyone is playing is to guess who from BN would be the new MB, upon getting the consent of HRH Paduka Seri Sultan.

PR is not taking these developments easy. They are organizing a massive rally in Ipoh sometime today. A legal tussle to challenge  the validity of the pre-signed and undated ‘resignation letters’ and/or any new proclamation would be expected. The plot thickens and gets more complicated. Of course, the beneficiary of all of these mind boggling games would be the rakyat.

The last time Malaysian political scene saw this, was in Sabah. The latest was 93-94, when USNO (now dissolved and assimilated into UMNO) tried to wrestle the State Government from PBS. UMNO did not manage to properly install their leadership at the state helm, not until the 1999 state elections.

The two PKR ADUN who defected, who were former Excos were charged and due to appear in court for corrupt practices. Even when BN safely nestled themselves as the new State Government managed to regain grounds then, they would have to go through the electoral process anyway if and when Jamaluddin and Mohd. Osman were found guilty. The timing of the gamble might take some time, which include the appeal process. From the looks of it, the BN would just go along managing the state and trying to undo what PR did, hoping to regain the rakyat’s confidence of them, something which was yanked from under their feet on 8 March last year.

The Thirteen Million Ringgit question now is would BN want to win at getting control and run the Perak State Government, in this game? Would not in had been better if the State Assembly was dissolved and power is earned from a fresh mandate, instead of ‘crossing over’ game?

Since 12^th General Elections 8 March 2008, BN has proven themselves to be very bad in the polling game. The rakyat preferred to voice their dissent via the ballot box, as many at grassroot level felt BN leaders continuously turn deaf ears and blind eyes to their complaints and grievances, especially the wake of very efficient communication and information era. Hence, BN ‘lost’ the confidence, then support of the rakyat, which saw 5 + 1 states were wrestled unprecedentedly in over 53 years of Malaysian democratic history.

BN should buck up their internal mess, get their houses clean, polish their act and improve of intra-party relations, understanding and co-operation first. These the very issues why 45% of Malaysian voters threw their support for Pakatan Rakyat on the 8 March 2008, even many did with the clear conscience that the DAP-PAS-PKR unholy, disorganized and unstructured ‘marriage of convenience’ would probably not get anywhere, especially to bring about progress and change which the rakyat idealistically so desire.

Then again, the issue of the two ex-PKR ADUNs Behrang and Changkat Jering, who are now plagued with corruption charges will be a new variable that will add to the existing complications faced by BN. UMNO should be looking into getting right leaders, especially at this point of time. This is something Fifth UMNO President Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad strongly put forth, at a juncture where UMNO leaders’ integrity and credibilty has been doubted and challenged.

The Star has the story:

 

Thursday February 5, 2009

It will tarnish Umno’s image, says Mahathir

 

PETALING JAYA: Umno’s action of accepting those accused of corruption will tarnish the party’s image, former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said.

However, the two assemblymen – Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi (Behrang) and Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu (Changkat Jering) – have not announced that they would join Umno, only that they were leaving PKR to become Independent members of the Perak State Assembly.

 

Dr Mahathir, in the posting on his blog, asked if Umno was so desperate that the party could not wait for the court to decide on the charges against the two before accepting them.

Jamaluddin and Mohd Osman had pleaded not guilty last August to corruption charges involving the development of a piece of land.

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BN should do the right thing. Winning the grounds today , more over from ‘coup d’etat‘ or ‘hostile take over’, will not ensure the battle is won, let alone the war.  Fields should be taken, with the ‘colours’ intact. As the saying goes, “politics is about perception”. How would BN be remembered, when future Malaysians, who will be expected to be more sophisticated and analytical, discuss about how the field was taken in ungentlemanly tactics deployed and games played?

Of course, the argument will always linger around on how BN’s opponents like PKR and PAS, especially with the stewardship of partyless Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim incorrigible ability to lie and make promises that they don’t intend to keep, which complicates the political scenario by ‘not playing the game by the book’. BN should on a web of strategies of winning the rakyat’s heart and confidence and making sure Anwar style of lies as a virtue to distrust his leadership. Had BN did not shoot themselves in the foot ever so often, former abuse of power convict Anwar would not able to do his ‘pasar malam style selling’ destructive of politics.

In essence, all of these changes must start with paradigm shifts that BN Leadership must and most importantly, willing to do. The root of the problems must be addressed, no matter how complex they can be. Had all of the issues clearly sent by the rakyat to BN Leadership been addressed or the very least been seen to be worked on, then they should be on the way to be fully confident of  ‘taking on the field’ in a open warfare; fresh elections. Politics should be a mixture of rugby and chess; game of the wit and strategy meets barbaric game played by gentlemen.

To hold grounds and sustain battles is important to ensure that the war in won. How far will BN go, if grounds are won in these manners. Winning and the ability to hold the grounds would rely a lot on the physical and economic situation and progression. Regardless, to move on and progress, confidence of the rakyat is paramount.  Not only for a mandate to get laws passed and budgets approved, but as the 17th most important trading nation to progress, especially in the dawn of a global economic recession.

The strategy of winning the war with political stability is the ticket of Malaysia to survive.