Perak-ians were robbed

The last hope of the Pakatan Rakyat in retaining Perak have been more or less quashed. HRH Sultan Azlan Shah has refused to grant Datuk Seri Nizar the consent to dissolve the Assembly for fresh elections. The new BN Menteri Besar will be sworn in tomorrow afternoon. A lot of questions by the rakyat. A lot of questions unanswered.

Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy. As a former Lord President, Sultan Azlan Shah knew well enough on the inside outs of the Malaysian constitution. In 2004, he had written, “Under normal circumstances, it is taken for granted that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong would not withhold his consent to a request for dissolution of parliament. His role is purely formal.” No Sultan or Agung has withheld consent to dissolve since 1977. Just as in Britain, it is a convention held that the Royal House will not refuse assent to dissolve the legislative body if it is advised by the PM. In Perak's case, it would be the Menteri Besar. Thus, the first questionable area is, why did the Sultan refused the request by the legitimate MB of Perak and furthermore, implied that he would be sacked if he refused to budge from his position. Clearly, the powers of the monarchy do not extend to the point of dismissal as they are only allowed to appoint.

It is not true to say that BN commands the majority. It is tied at 28-28. How can the fate of a state be decided by 3 Independent candidates that can freely pick between different sides? Two of them are of questionable status facing corruption charges and the BN fellas are taking them in. If the two of them are found to be guilty for the charges, then wouldn't there be another fiasco? There is still the High Court action in determining the legitimacy of the resignation letters. Surely the Sultan could at deferred his decision until then before deciding whether to install the new BN government. Why the hurry in installing the new man when all these are done in a questionable and dubious nature? Seriously, I tak faham..why the hurry?

It is fair to say that the Pakatan Rakyat has lost all moral grounds in criticising the frogs jumping over because Anwar made the no.1 mistake when he accepted Botaman. Some are even saying "padan muka" because this was exactly the thing which Anwar had envisioned in the federal level for September 16. However, the wishes of the Rakyat cannot be swept aside just like this. Dissolving the Assembly for fresh elections is not being biased to the Pakatan Rakyat even if it was claimed as such by Barisan supporters. It is the spirit of democracy that is being upheld. It is as neutral as it gets. BN should not fear the re-elections if it claims to uphold the interest of the rakyat. Both sides have another fair chance to reconvince its electors of its credibility. Of course, if it's too messy to hold a statewide elections, then at least hold a by-elections for the questionable areas of Behrang, Changkat Jering and Jelapang. The people voted for the party, not for the individual. I could imagine the amount of red-faces that are incensed in Jelapang right now. The Sultan's statement in claiming that Nizar had lost the majority of the assembly vote could not be taken as the basis for discarding the PR government. It is ultimately the will of the people that prevails. Bear in mind that the popular votes for PR outnumbers those in BN in Perak too. It's getting ridiculous if one looks from the beginning. First, EC claims that by-election not possible and asks Nizar to dissolve assembly. Now, when he attempts to dissolve assembly, he was asked to resign from his post.

This decision by the Sultan will not go down well with the Rakyat. It would be proper if he provides the rationale behind his decision. The media statement that he released did not provide many any solid answers at all. The role of the monarchy would be under scrutiny more than ever. Even Tok Guru Nik Aziz has cautioned the Royal House, reminding them of the episode during Mahathir's era when he radically curbs the monarchy's power. He pointed out that the Royal House does not need another blow in that it also loses the confidence of the rakyat. One possible conspiracy theory is that Najib could have impliedly threatened to curtail royal powers if he didn't get the direction that he wanted. While Najib's camp is celebrating, old guards like Mahathir(ironically) and Tengku Razaleigh are even warning that it would be a tremendous backfire on public opinion on the BN over the dubious nature of takeover.

The rakyat sees the Royal House as the last bastion of hope for conscience. I hope Tuanku would reconsider his decision because this is not about Pakatan Rakyat or BN. It's about the choice of the rakyat. They are the electorates and they deserve the chance to choose again. They don't deserve to be marginalised like this because of the mistakes of the politicians.

Today is one of the darkest days of democracy in Malaysia. The rule of law is not upheld and leadership is imposed rather than elected. Malaysians from all walks of life are gathered at Nizar's residence to show a last stance support. It's a somber mood, with prayers being offered rather than outright confrontation with the police. Some people who are not from Perak even travelled all the way to Ipoh for the gathering. Folks like RPK and Zaid Ibrahim are there to offer support too. It's just a simple democratic principle. Let the people decide who's fitting to govern them. The only last possible glimmer of hope now for the rakyat in Perak to have chance to choose lies with the High Court for the validity of the resignation letters. With the police and civil service being pro-BN and the possibility of moles being planted in the judiciary, it doesn't look very optimistic for any last-ditch hope of survival of the PR state government in Perak. God help us all...