The Fate of Independent MPs
On 19th February Pasir Mas Member of Parliament Ibrahim Ali announced he will be contesting in in the next election though he has yet to decide whether to defend his current seat or contest elsewhere and whether to do so as an independent candidate or under any political party.
He stated that with the growing Chinese support for him and Perkasa, the Malay right-wing group which he leads prompted him to contest in the 13th General Election. Ibrahim is among several other MPs who left their political parties to become independent representatives after the 2008 General Election. Others who make up this list of new breed third force include Kulim Bandar Baru MP Zulkifli Noordin, Bayan Baru MP Datuk Seri Zahrain Mohamed Hashim, Wangsa Maju MP Wee Choo Keong and Nibong Tebal MP Tan Tee Beng among others. Incidentally, Zulkifli is the vice president of Perkasa since he was elected in October last year.
The big question is whether these Independent MPs who will be defending the seats in their constituency or elsewhere. Other than Ibrahim none of them has announced their decision yet as most of them were elected as representatives of their former political parties to which they had a falling out with.
In June 2010, these group of defectors formed what they refer to as Konsensus Bebas (Independent Consensus) as the official platform for independent MPs in the Dewan Rakyat. The five members are Zahrain, Wee, Zulkifli, Tan and Bagan Serai MP Mohsin Fadzli Samsuri. Interesting enough all five of them are from Anwar’s Ibrahim’s Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).
Tan later joined the Zaid Ibrahim’s Parti Kesejahteraan Insan Tanah Air (KITA) in which he was elected as the Penang state chief. However, in February he was sacked from the party for disagreeing with Zaid’s decision to dissolve KITA.
In the case of these independent MPs, many had brushed aside their significance for, according to many, they won their seats because of their association with PKR and they will not stand a chance on their own. But on the other hand these BN-friendly MPs might finally join Umno or any BN component parties before the General Election.
Personally, I wouldn’t trust these leaders not because of their lack of talent but their lack of loyalty. American writer Napoleon Hill once wrote, “Lack of loyalty is one of the major causes of failure in every walk of life.” Then there are these questions – Were money involved in this matter? Having said that, there’s also a saying that goes “There’s no money in political loyalty, but there’s money in being disloyal.”
Then again what is the price of loyalty? But in this case the right question would be – What is the price of disloyalty?
