EMBARRASSED, HEADACHE OR ELECTION FEVER - ANWAR SEEN RESISTING BY-ELECTIONS DESPITE KELANTAN MOVE - WHILE UMNO-BN PLOTS ITS OWN 'ESCAPE'
Written by Stan Lee, PoliticsNow!
KUALA LUMPUR (politicsnowmy.blogspot.com) - Feeling embarrassed? Got a headache? By-election fever? Whatever the reason for the sudden sweat breaking out among Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's inner circle, one thing seems certain or as certain as politics - especially of the dubious kind - can be. And that is, there will be no by-elections over the six federal seats 'stolen' from Bersatu.
"Who cares what Kelantan does? We can also say their speaker is biased - why point the spotlight on Johari or Lau," an upset insider in Anwar's ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition told PoliticsNow! He was referring to Johari Abdul, the speaker of the federal parliament and Lau Weng San, the speaker of the Selangor state assembly.
Nonetheless, whatever it is that is motivating team Anwar to avoid by-elections like the plague is obvious to the public, which had not thought highly of his PKR party's move to accept the declarations of loyalty to Anwar from Bersatu, an opposition party led by ex-premier Muhyiddin. It was widely seen by both man on the street and by civil society as unethical and exploiting the country's new but weak Anti-Hopping law.
PRINCIPLED WHEN OUT OF POWER, NO PRINCIPLES WHEN IN POWER?
"People want their politicians to be principled and they thought for once, we are getting a government that will at the very least be more decent than Umno. But now after almost 2 years, the realization is that we have been conned - these guys have less class than Umno-BN," a long-time political commentator opined to PoliticsNow!
"When PKR, DAP and Amanah were in the opposition, they got the opposition media to blast the Umno government for withholding funds and called for parliamentary integrity and what-not. Now they do the same and even take it a step further by squeezing the weak opposition MPs to indirectly cross over. It's like 'you want money, you declare support for Anwar'. But that makes a real mockery of the opposition and chips away at the very foundation of parliamentary democracy."
"But Anwar and his team seem to think that voters are too dumb to realize this. Now that Bersatu can finally take action, this is backfiring on them. Without a single doubt, the people will laugh at Anwar and Pakatan - not that the people really want to go out and vote again but as I said, these politicos are so out of it, they think they are the greatest and yet have no idea that the people are really fed up of them and their shenanigans."
"Malaysians want clean and principled leaders who can work hard and efficiently to restore the economy, bring down costs of living for the benefit of the citizenry - not drama queens, half-past-six Little Napoleons with big egos who work for their own agenda. If Anwar doesn't change his ways, it is already a given he will lose the next general election. He needs the Malay vote but until now, doesn't have it. As for the Malays, they can see there is no improvement, be it in economic management, governance or ethical standards - so might as well vote for Umno or Bersatu. It's as simple as that."
PIC THAT PAINTED A THOUSAND WORDS
The brouhaha actually erupted last week when Anwar was caught in a photo-op kneeling before a seated Muhyiddin after Friday prayers - as if asking for forgiveness over the so-called 'theft' of the six rogue MPs - although the photo which went viral was said to 'celebrate' the termination of two mega defamation lawsuits the men had filed against each other.
There was even speculation about a political truce being called to usher in a 'period of stability' as well as rumors that Anwar had managed to persuade Muhyiddin not to call for by-elections in the six seats Technically, the seats would be deemed to have been vacated since all six had lost their Bersatu membership after failing to comply with their party's requirement that reportedly included withdrawing their support for Anwar since Bersatu is in the opposition.
KELANTAN LIGHTS THE FUSE
The six MPs are Syed Abu Hussin the Bukit Gantang MP, Zahari Kechik the Jeli MP, Azizi Abu Naim the Gua Musang MP, Iskandar Dzulkarnain the Kuala Kangsar MP, Suhaili Abdul Rahman the Labuan MP and Zulkafperi Hanapi the Tanjong Karang MP.
Azizi the Gua Musang MP is also the assemblymen for Nenggiri, while Selat Klang assemblyman Abdul Rashid Asari is the assemblyman for Selat Kelang.
Kelantan, which is controlled by Bersatu's coalition mate Pas, had a day ago declared the Nenggiri seat vacant after state assembly speaker confirmed he had been notified by Bersatu that Azizi had lost his party membership.
The Election Commission is set to hold a special meeting on Friday (June 28) to discuss "the important dates of the by-election, such as the date of the election writ, nomination day, polling day, the electoral roll to be used and other preparations."
DO THE RIGHT THING, NOT PLAY BLAME GAME
All eyes are now on how the Selangor state assembly speaker Lau Weng San, who was the DAP's former Banting rep, will react. Since the Selangor state government is controlled by Anwar's Pakatan coalition, there are expectations that Lau will follow the stance taken by Johari Abdul, the speaker of the federal parliament who is an Anwar stalwart and a long-time member in their PKR party.
"There is no point to blame the Anti-Hopping law as weak and due to Bersatu's failure not to tighten the loopholes when they were the government and tabled it," said the political analyst.
"The thing is - just do the right thing! This is now what the public expects of their leaders - not blame game or big-talking empty vessels who crow when they have upperhand even when it is not ethical. Now they get their comeuppance, there is no sound from DAP or Lau and nobody seems to know where Johari is."
EVEN UMNO-BN MIGHT SOON DUMP ANWAR
Umno president Zahid far left, jailed PM Najib Razak, PM Anwar centre, Muhyiddin far right
Indeed the repercussions appear negative for Anwar, who has been lambasted for poor performance especially over the economy, to the extent that talk is now bubbling that another coalition ally Umno-BN is mulling plans to go it alone.
According to Zambry Kadir, the BN secretary-general, they are ready to discuss whether to move forward independently or continue the existing cooperation with Anwar's Pakatan. The BN coalition, whose anchor party is Umno, had ruled Malaysia for decades until 2018.
Their shock loss in the 2018 general election had forced them to tie up with Muhyiddin's PN coalition to form a short-lived and troubled government.
In the country's 15th general election held in 2022, Anwar's Pakatan had won the most seats but still not enough to form a simple-majority government - hence allowing Umno-BN to reinsert themselves in power again via a unity government plan brokered by the then King, Sultan Abdullah.
The current unity government ends its term in 2027 and is composed of several coalitions including Pakatan, BN, GPS and GRS.
"Zambry's latest statement has elicited various reactions, including support for BN to move forward independently in GE16 for the coalition's political survival," wrote Sinar Daily.
"Based on reactions on social media, the majority of netizens want the coalition to build its own strength rather than relying on cooperation with other parties. This reaction also clearly shows that grassroots members of the coalition want BN to move forward on its own from now on."
Written by Stan Lee, PoliticsNow!
https://politicsnowmy.blogspot.com/
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