It’s not over ’til it’s over
Sorry guys and gals. I am shuttling between the various courts and my many lawyers’ offices that I have no time to write a ‘proper’ article. Next Monday is a most crucial day for me when it would determine whether I remain a free man — at least for the next few months while I fight my various criminal indictments — or I get sent back to Kamunting. Until then, please ‘feast’ on my response to the current Perak political crisis.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
I did say in my previous article in this same column on 14 February 2009, The show is not over till the fat lady sings, as follows:
The Sultan had two choices. One would be to allow DAP, PKR and PAS to combine their seats and form a LOOSE coalition and probably see it collapse within six months due to crossovers. The second would be to allow Barisan Nasional to form the government and probably see it collapse within six months due to a vote of no confidence passed against it in the State Assembly.
Whatever it may be, both scenarios involve a possible collapse of the state government within a mere few months. But the Sultan chose the first option: to allow DAP, PKR and PAS to combine their seats and ‘outgun’ Barisan Nasional’s 28 seats by just three seats. This means a mere shift of two seats and the government of Perak will change hands.
And this did happen exactly as forecasted. And the same thing would probably have happened as well if Barisan Nasional had formed the Perak state government. And it would take just months for it to happen.
The Sultan had his reservations. Whether Barisan Nasional, or a loose coalition of DAP, PKR and PAS, formed the new Perak state government, the government would be unstable and may not be able to last. PAS held Kelantan with a one-seat majority in the Kelantan State Assembly and lasted. But PAS is different. The PAS people are more committed. We can’t say the same thing for DAP and PKR who were already quarrelling even before the government could be formed.
Note the quality of the PKR people. Even though it had more seats than PAS, it could not provide the Menteri Besar and had to pass the job over to PAS even though it had the least number of seats in the Perak State Assembly. PKR just did not have the quality people needed to become Menteri Besar of Perak. What hope can you give a party that lacks quality candidates?
The Perak situation was a crisis waiting to happen. And it would not take that long to happen. One false move and the DAP-PKR-PAS loose coalition government of Perak would collapse. And it did collapse because two of the PKR people walked into a trap and found themselves faced with corruption charges.
But the problem does not end here. What happens to the corruption charges against those two ‘independent’ State Assemblymen? Will the charges now be dropped? If the charges are dropped then it would become too obvious. But if the charges remain and they face trial, then another problem crops up.
First would be what surfaces in the trial. If the trial reveals they were fixed up, then Barisan Nasional would look bad. But if they were not fixed up and really are guilty of corruption, Barisan Nasional would also look bad. Both ways Barisan Nasional would look bad. And if they are found guilty because they really are guilty then there will be two more by-elections in Perak, which the opposition will surely win. And we will end up with 30 opposition seats against only 29 from Barisan Nasional.
This means the Perak government will again change hands like it did last week, but this time from Barisan Nasional to a loose coalition of DAP, PKR and PAS.
Then we have the problem of Hee. She is expected to resign due to the pressure she is facing. This means yet another seat will fall vacant and yet another by-election will be held.
Maybe over the 11 months since 8 March 2008, the loose coalition of DAP, PKR and PAS was running Perak with uncertainty about its future. But the new Barisan Nasional government of Perak is not on any more solid ground than the previous government. It too faces the possibility of being driven out of office.
The show is not over till the fat lady sings, goes the popular saying. And the fat lady has not sung yet. What will the final curtain be? Your guess is as good as mine. But I predict Perak will again change hands in the not too distant future. And since the Sultan of Perak has already set the trend on how governments shall change, the same formula will have to be applied once DAP, PKR and PAS, combined, have more seats than Barisan Nasional. The knife, as they say, cuts both ways.
Well, let me continue from where I left off above with this song lyrics by the Starship:
It's Not Over 'til It's Over
Hey
Listen:
We don't call the shots here
We don't make the rules
We take what we get
Get what we can.
And it's learning the hard way, here on the streets
You can't build a dream, without a plan.
Passion speaks
Let them hear you speak, for me
They play to win
We play for keeps.
It's not over 'til it's over
It's not over 'til we get it right.
The odds are against us
Say we don't stand a chance
When there's no giving up
No giving in.
When push comes to shove, you got to fight for what you love
You do what you must
Do what you can.
Passion, speaks
Let them hear you speak, for me
They play to win
We play for keeps.
It's not over 'til it's over
It's not over 'til we get it right. Get it right!
The odds are against us
You know we still stand a chance
There's no giving up
No giving in
It's not over!
It's not over 'til it's over
It's not over 'til we
'til we
'til we
'til we
'til we get it right!
It's not over 'til it's over
It's not over 'til we
'til we
'til we
'til we
'til we get it right!
See the LIVE video performance here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2x4L9s2KOOM&NR=1
And you can ‘karaoke’ with the song lyrics above every time you see a Barisan Nasional person. Rub it in people, rub it in, where it hurts most. And when the court rules against me and fucks me off to Kamunting this Monday, I call upon all of you to stand tall and proud on the steps of the Palace of Injustice in Putrajaya and scream at the top of your lungs: IT'S NOT OVER 'TIL IT'S OVER. And I will scream the same thing in the police van as I journey to Kamunting: IT'S NOT OVER 'TIL IT'S OVER.
