The political situation in the state of Perak right now is fast deteriorating and becoming more undemocratic as the days go by. I'm completely disgusted by the naked power grab orchestrated by UMNO to wrest away the control of the state government from the opposition. Who knows how much those ADUNs were paid off by Najib in order to defect? Some say the money involved is to the tune of tens of millions of ringgit per MP but the figure is irrelevant as we now know the turncoats were simply political opportunists from the onset. Let those good-for-nothing, unprincipled politicians get their comeuppance in the snap election, which may or may not be called.
I'm pissed at the Sultan of Perak, Raja Azlan Shah, who acceded to Najib's demand and dismissed the state's Chief Minister. As somebody who read Law in the UK the Sultan should know better and that he has overreached in his role as the titular head of state. Acting as he did implies that the built-in democratic process to deal with such contingency has no teeth in it and that all real power rests in the hand of the monarchy. The Sultan should not have interfered in the whole fiasco in the first place. What he should have done is to dissolve the state assembly and call for a snap election to restore confidence in the state government. This is the process one should expect or demand from a fully functioning democratic system but then Malaysia, I'm sad to say, is not really a fully functioning democratic country. The closest we ever got to it was when the Opposition came out with a stunning victory in March last year. Political system in Malaysia is what political scientists call "soft authoritarianism."
If it's up to me all Sultanates in Malaysia will be eliminated and forced to join the unwashed masses. Who needs them in this day and age? They're an anachronism that should have been wiped by the virtue of political evolution long time ago. But since the total decimation of the monarchy in Malaysia a la the French Revolution is not a viable option at this moment, we hope that the Sultan can at least make his decision based on the will of the people, not his own whims and fancy. The days of absolute power is long gone and he should come to grips with the current reality. The good thing - if one can even call it that - is that his son the Crown Prince, Raja Nazrin, is known to be a liberal democrat and will probably act differently had he been in a similar situation. UMNO's fear-mongering racists are shaking in their boots since the political tsunami of March 8 last year and the losses in the last two by-elections in Permatang Pauh and Kuala Trengganu and are working on every conceivable way to consolidate and entrench whatever power they have left. They forgot that the greatest and the strongest power of all comes from the people and that the final nail in the UMNO's coffin will be delivered as soon as the people vote their collective voices to kick the bums out of the office.
4 comments:
the recent events in Perak is nothing less than a coup d'etat. And another thing. nak sue Sultan pun tak boleh. as if the sultan is above the law. then if the sultan orders people to kill, then his orders should not be questioned too. Nanti derhaka pada sultan. nanti menghina and biadab pada institusi kesultanan. come on, get rid of the feudal mindset already.
Exactly! Aku agree Nick... that's the problem with many Malays in Malaysia right now. Still shackled by the feudal mindset of the past. Tapi many Malays argue yg the sultanate institution is closely tied up to Ketuanan Melayu and to get rid of former means to get rid of the latter. And Ketuanan Melayu is another aspect we need to get rid of in Malaysia. The idea of one race holds supreme over others has been long discredited. It's ironic when we used to boycott South Africa for its racist Apartheid policy but we practice almost similar policy in Malaysia. Man, I go on and on about this whole race and religion issue in Malaysia.
Oii, aku gi Penang esok, so sound mamak2 kat sana suruh siapkan nasi kandar banyak2 haha...
The sultan did consult with the alternatives if they were to have confidence with Nizar being the MB. But all of them did not have confidence and the fact that there was party hopping which led BN being the majority. And to have a re-election, would you pay million of ringgit just for another election? waste of money. better use that money to feed hungry children. read the facts... i would suggest you to read Malayan Law Journal 1994 in the case of Dato Amir Kahar and compare it with the perak situation and see if its relevant.
The sultan did consult with the alternatives if they were to have confidence with Nizar being the MB. But all of them did not have confidence and the fact that there was party hopping which led BN being the majority. And to have a re-election, would you pay million of ringgit just for another election? waste of money. better use that money to feed hungry children. read the facts... i would suggest you to read Malayan Law Journal 1994 in the case of Dato Amir Kahar and compare it with the perak situation and see if its relevant.
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