Fresh polls for the state of Perak will have a huge impact on Najib as he is now the Perak State liaison chairman for BN. He has already suffered from two by-election losses. A loss of a state would only mean that he and BN/UMNO are rejected by the people.
Call In Fresh Polls for Perak
Iqbal Abd Ghaffar
A government holding on to a razor thin majority brings no benefit at all to anyone, specifically to the people. Time, money and effort that should otherwise be focused on wielding and solving problems also has to be diverted to political bickering and political supremacy. What more in a time like this when the whole world is suffering from a financial, economical, and confidence crisis?
The only party that survived and ruled a state with a razor thin majority was PAS in Kelantan. This happened in 2004 when Abdullah’s reign ushered in a euphoria of a new dawn. Assemblyman of PAS had stayed true to their principles and closed ranks in the face of a larger presence of BN/UMNO legislators as the opposition in the state assembly.
Bota’s assemblyman that jumped shipped from UMNO to PKR had both desirable and undesirable consequences.
The event prompted long time ex-Perak Menteri Besar and BN state liaison chairman to step down citing his incompetence to hold the BN/UMNO faction together. Deputy PM, Najib Razak has taken over the job.
On the 31st of January, two PR assemblyman charged with corruption had gone missing, Bala style (after the infamous P.I Bala statutory claim incident on the Altantuya murder). No one is able to reach them, not even their family members. Rumors are rife about them defecting to UMNO with UMNO offering to drop the corruption charges against them. Now a 3rd assemblyman from DAP is said to be mulling joining MCA.
If these 3 PR assemblyman from leave the coalition for the opposition, BN would lead with a single majority of 30:29.
This razor thin majority is by any standards not healthy and would only leave a bad aftertaste of instability. A house built on a shaky foundation would collapse sooner than later as lobbying and courting for defections would intensify.
The ultimate borne loser? The rakyat of Perak.
Already, PKR has initiated its contingency plan, the undated letter signed after the March 8th by each PKR assemblyman that they shall vacate their seat should they jump ship. With them gone missing, and Menteri Besar, Nizar Jamaluddin making a missing persons report, the contingency plan has been set in motion paving the way for a by-election in 60 days.
But having a by-election for these two seats would not solve the problem of leading with a thin majority. The best way to move forward is to call on for fresh elections in the state.
PR is already leading with a 4-0 lead over BN with the 4th goal scored when the Bota assemblyman defected to PKR. the 3rd and 2nd was in the KT and Permatang Pauh by-election while the first was on March 8th.
Fresh polls for the state of Perak will have a huge impact on Najib as he is now the Perak State liaison chairman for BN. He has already suffered from two by-election losses. A loss of a state would only mean that he and BN/UMNO are rejected by the people.
A fresh polls for the state of Perak will also give the opportunity to PR to rebalance its seat distribution as many members of PAS and PKR were not happy that they were the minority in the state assembly.
Will Nizar Jamaluddin get the consent of the Sultan of Perak to hold fresh polls for the state? Will Nizar even call on fresh polls?
I certainly hope he will, because this is one show that I won’t want to miss! Tune in to Sunday, March 8th 2009 for polling day!
IAG