Lesson in British history for Anwar: The fall of the Mighty Thatcher
Another Brick in the Wall
Bigdogdotcom wrote a posting entitled The Heseltine Gambit. For the benefit of the Gen Y, since the historical event occurred in 1990 before they were conscious as human being, it was the ouster of the mighty British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher through a motion in Parliament voted by only Conservative Party MPs. .
Thatcher was in her 11th year as Prime Minister, which is considered a marathon for British politics. It is unlike Malaysia that could afford the same Prime Minister for 22 years and later chose the same person 15 years later. Undeniably, it place Malaysia as a gerontocrasy nation.
In November 1990, Thatcher faced the second challenge on her premiership from MP Michael Haseltine, who was Defense Minister in Thatcher’s cabinet. It was a time of public uproar against her policies to impose poll tax, and privatisation and subsidy cut resulted in massive unemployment. Foreign Minister, Sir Geoffrey Howe and few other members had resigned in protest of her policies.
Thatcher won the first round of the Conservative contest, 204 to 152, but did not exceed a 15% margin for a first round KO. Absentee was high and Haseltine surprisingly did better than expected 120. Thatcher resigned to prevent Haseltine from being PM. The second round saw John Major won 185 to 131 and 56 against Haseltine and Douglas Herd.
An interesting lesson of British history for Malaysia to learn from. If the constitution and parliamentary rule permit, it could end the political deadlock that has been both the cause and hindrance to Malaysia economic progress and recovery.
