Malaysia’s Week of Anarchy
When the three Pakatan assemblymen “defected” to Barisan Nasional in February 2009, the Sultan of Perak had two choices at hand: – either to dissolve the state assembly or to hand power to the BN.
The Sultan opted for the latter; dismissing Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin, which caused the fall of the Pakatan government in Perak.
Why he did this, no one knows. Some argued that the Sultan was merely exercising his discretion. Others say that he has no right to do so – as the state constitution does not empower the Sultan to dismiss a Menteri Besar. One line of contention says that the Sultan did not agree to dissolution as this would involve a state election, which curtails a lot of cost and expense.
If economic issues are the deriding factors, then the Sultan is resolving the issue at the expense of democracy. There can never be a price tag placed on democracy. Policy reasons – such as time, costs, expense, convenience and even legal technicalities – cannot be used as a trade-off to democracy and justice. That is why we have paid dearly for it. As a trade-off to democracy, we now have a week of anarchy, lawlessness, chaos and disorder.
