Another wave of party withdrawal
As constituencies may be re-demarcated this year, BN needs the support of two-thirds majority to pass the constituency demarcation. From there, it can divide more constituencies within its sphere of influence to maintain its political power.
By LIM SUE GOAN/Translated by SOONG PHUI JEE/Sin Chew Dail
According to a survey conducted by Reader’s Digest, the top three professionals most trusted by Malaysians were pilots, teachers and doctors. If politicians were included in the survey, I believed that they would not be ranked within the top 50 as they were most untrustworthy.
Nibong Tebal MP Tan Tee Beng expressed his hope to stay in PKR during a press conference held at the party’s headquarters on 24 Feb after he attended the party’s disciplinary committee’s hearing. Unexpectedly, he announced his withdrawal from the party right after the Lantern Festival.
The party withdrawal wave during Chinese New Year last year has caused Pakatan Rakyat to lose the Perak state power. Late last year, Lunas (Kedah) State Assemblyman Mohd Radzhi Salleh and Port Klang (Selangor) Assemblyman Badrul Hisham Abdullah quit PKR while Bayan Baru (Penang) MP Zahrain Hashim quit PKR before Chinese New Year. Together with former Penang Deputy Chief Minister 1 Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin, who quit PKR and directly handed UMNO President Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak his application form to join UMNO, as well as Tan Tee Beng, it seems like another wave of party withdrawal is striking the political arena.
Well-known blogger Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin said a month ago that 10 Pakatan Rakyat MPs would switch party while DAP Jelutong MP Jeff Ooi said eight Pakatan Rakyat would switch party. Also, he said that there would be an outburst of a shocking conspiracy within Pakatan Rakyat, which would bring a serious impact to Penang Pakatan Rakyat.
These predictions seem to have been realised one after another. However, there will be no secret in politics. There are traces for both party withdrawal and switching. For example, they would criticise their party leaders first, attack other component parties or disappear before quitting with various reasons.
Two PKR MPs have quit by now and the next one to quit may be Kulim Bandar Baru MP Zulkifli Nordin who lashed out at DAP. Therefore, it is very likely to set off a domino effect, allowing BN to retrieve the two-thirds majority.
BN won 140 seats out of the total of 222 seats during the 8 March general elections, while Pakatan Rakyat gained 81 seats. Another seat was gained by Paris Mas independent MP Datuk Ibrahim Ali. After the withdrawal of Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) from BN and the defeat in the Kuala Terengganu by-election, BN’s seats in the Parliament has reduced to 137. However, Ibrahim Ali has expressed his support for BN, together with the above-mentioned two MPs who quit PKR, BN’s support rate in the Parliament has restored to 140 votes while Pakatan Rakyat’s support rate has reduced to 80 seats.
As constituencies may be re-demarcated this year, BN needs the support of two-thirds majority to pass the constituency demarcation. From there, it can divide more constituencies within its sphere of influence to maintain its political power.
In order to retrieve the two-thirds majority, it must first gain the support of 148 MPs. Based on the current situation, it is somewhat difficult. However, it is no impossible, particularly when there are a lot of political frogs. Even if it is unable to retrieve the two-thirds majority, with the propaganda of the mainstream media, the wave of party withdrawal will also bring Pakatan Rakyat a confidence crisis.
When voters pushed through the two-line system, they wished to implement the check and balance system of democracy to ensure that no single party is stronger than the others, instead of allowing speculators to gain political interests by ignoring public opinions.
Based on the current situation, the people can only pick the less rotten apple in the next general elections. It is the sorrow of Malaysian democracy.
