Cross over & jump ship
Mar 29th, 2008 by Tian
3 weeks after the 12th General Elections, people are still talking about cross-over and guessing when Abdullah will step down. There has been also anxiety over the volatile political atmosphere since the government is perceived to be not stable.
There have been lots of rumours that some MPs are plotting secretly to cross to the Opposition. Losing another 30 odd seats, the BN government would lose its majority to govern.
People used to think the BN was an unbeatable aircraft carrier. Now the ship is sinking, can the BN leaders hold on to their members and legislators?
Some people argued that KeADILan should categorically reject any cross-over MPs or ADUNs.Let me reiterate our party’s position: We will not use money, positions nor material rewards to lure BN MPs or ADUNs to join us.
Whatever is it, Parti Keadilan Rakyat is in no rush to form the federal government.
Whether the BN could stay together to serve a full term is not up to our 82 MPs to decide. The 140 BN MPs have the full responsibility to decide when the entity of BN ceases to be a reality.
My view is that one cannot legislate a law to bar legislators from changing party or switching side. In democracy, the position of parliamentarians is always dynamic, parties can be in and out of government.
The issue here is not about betrayal to the voters. Ultimately it is the legislators who interpret the will of the people. The legislators will bear the sole responsibility of what their constituency wants.
I agree that the one way to determine the stand of the voters is through a fresh election. If we have a proportional representation, any resignation or death will be replaced by another candidate from the same party.
The discussion on cross-over has been surrounding on political ethics. However the proposal by BN to introduce Anti-Hopping Law has nothing to do with ethics. The BN just want to hold on to its crumbling empire.
We can’t tell our MP to resign and hold a fresh election. Previously the BN government introduced a law to disallow resignation in order to seek new mandate. Our law penalizes any legislators who resign before their term ends (ie. dissolution of parliament). Anyone who resign will be barred from contesting in election for 5 years.
If BN wants to let people exercise their political choice, instead of an Anti-Hopping law, the government should first amend the law to allow resignation and re-contest.
What if PKR jump ship to BN? Few state governments will fall back to BN if that happens. Is that ok? From your argument, it is not about betrayal to the voters. So, I take it that’s ok. Although a very big “if”, the carrot is very sweet for Anwar to ponder, don’t you think so?
Well said, Tian. This is how I view the sticky question of katak politics. The DAP/PKR/PAS Coalition may have NO CHOICE but to accept crossover MPs from BN - but only on condition they realign themselves voluntarily and conscientiously with the New Malaysian Agenda - without expectation of money or posts. I say they may have no choice because I feel the Umno-BN ship is sinking much faster than anyone could have predicted. Even the money that has kept them afloat for so long cannot save them from drowning, once the monarchs move to regain some of the dignity and constitutional authority Mahathir wrested from them in 1983. The Sultans are above party politics. If they appeared to be pro-Umno all these decades, it’s only because as Malay rulers they were given no option but to appear to back the Ketuanan Melayu party, no matter how corrupt it became. I’m sure they weren’t very proud of themselves. Now they see a chance to regain their dignity and reclaim their
self-respect - and at the same time be lauded by the public for their royal wisdom.
.
it is believe that the Government is trying to strengthen and stabilize their power in the country by changing the law.
All these(that happen in the past few days) had show to that the current Government that we have doesn’t care about the people of these nation.
Since the election, we have never hear about any news regarding the government is trying to do anything to improve the situation of the country.
I guess it is a right decision for the people of Malaysia to give the Government “A WAKE UP CALL”.(early morning of 9th of March)
Everything done so far by our “beloved” pak lah… and his friend so far is simply too immature and simply selfish.
Long live KeADILan…
Dont Just Teach them a Lesson…
Lets work hard and the next time(Election) around
Let us Just Show them How to govern a Nation Actually!
In a correct way!
Yes, the Titanic, many thought to be unsinkable had sunk. UMNO is sinking and will ……….We can see the many cracks already appearing on our local Titanic. History had shown that Govt. who antagonise and challenge the voters will collapse and fade away. After 3 weeks BN leaders are still figuring why they lost. MCA declared that they will make adjustment, to quote the STAR, MCA will “say what needs to be said”. God knows what he is trying to say. This statement reflects exactly what PM says to the voters “Point well made and Point Taken.” Then what? Wishy washy kind of talk. Simply put, they still don’ know why. Otherwise, they will sprung into action like
1. Give free water for the basic needs of the Rakyat.
…………..100 or more. No. we are not going to teach these Nimkampooks. They will never listen anyway. Because they believed the savings from the free water, millions of ringgits, should be in their cronies pocket. The story for the Toll is the same. And the stories continue and have to be stopped. Come next election ….or earlier we all knows what to do again and in greater numbers. We in Johor also want free water and toll free road.
Hi Tian,
Many are unaware of the resign-and-no-election-for-5yr law.
I have forgotten about it too,
So to jump ship and seek re-election is a no-no.
Kataks just can’t afford to do that under present circumstances.
But should PKR acccept kataks? Wouldn’t it be better to be patient and convince more voters to support the PKR-DAP-PAS coalition?
Tian,
I am not sure that you are correct on this one. I think the one who resigns cannot stand for the same seat for 5 years. Could you please check this out.
This amendment was made after Sharir resigned and recontested the Johor Bahru parliamentary seat as an independent some 20 years ago.
Note:
Please check out the Federal Constitution 48(6), yes it was amended because of Shahrir.
Tian
It’s an attempt by the lousy loser to prevent further bloodbath in it’s struggle to stay ‘afloat’. Somehow Malaysians are not stupid…..someday, it’s another “judgement day”. Anti-Hopping is not the way forward in a democracy!!
The in-fighting within the loser is a clear sign of more things to come. Surely the folks are keen to stir and confuse the public by whatever means.
hi
Tian as are ketua penerangan I hope you are to see and beware of the state where the place is very fews of penyokong MPT have to rush and develop the state and district where the bahagian is not yet active. reason In my parlimen P 054 until this day. Now I am trying to do some job for our and ours party Keadilan Rakyat in my Parlimen. inview of this I hope there was no objection form ours Presiden and MPT.
On Anti-Hopping and Katak matters…
My Observation is more focused on strategic front. I strongly feel that the Malaysia politcal reality - Penisular Malaysia is the main battleground for Pakatan Rakyat vs BN. All those East Malaysia parties will take side afterwards.
In Penisular, it’s more urbanised and mass+alternative medias have high penetration, especially for urban and sub-urban voters. Whereby as being told by East Malaysian friends, scenario there is totally different, we can’t simply use urban peoples mindset to understand political landscape in Sabah and Sarawak. The kinship ( for eg. Miranao and Iban fracion ) and geographical factors had restricted the growth of democracy esp. in rural area in East Malaysia.
Ideally, we can imposed conditions for crossovers to realign themselves voluntarily and conscientiously with the New Malaysian Agenda - without expectation of money or posts. In reality, this is power game… but Pakatan Rakyat still have to move on with these complex situation in East Malaysia… in the mean time, just dun b too eager in rushing to form the federal government, this should be a smartest way.
Congratulation. After 50 years, finally we can see the light in the tunnel. We really have the happiest moment on the day 8th March when we see the fall of the MCA. They are the worst apple polisher who betray their own race for their own benefit.
So if Khalid resigns from his parliamentary seat, will he also be barred from contesting his state seat for 5 years?
Shouldn’t the state seat constitution conform to the federal constitution?
Tian:
Yes, the state constitution is the same as the federal on this. The BN had amended all state constitutions to disallow resignation.
However whoever resigns from parliament would be barred only in parliamentary elections. But they still can run in state election.
[...] seperti Jeff Ooi, Nurul Izzah, Tian Chua, Lim Kit Siang dan blogger lain akan mengupas isu-isu semasa dan RTM bercadang untuk membuat siaran [...]
But sleep won’t come…
http://malaysiancartoons.blogspot.com/2008/04/but-sleep-wooont-come-malaysiakini.html
Dear TC,
The cross over for sure will have some terms & conditions, right?
If it is not Money, Position or whatsoever, then what are those terms and conditions might be? Can you give me at least 3?
Let the BN sink naturally, let the in fighting inflict wound among themselves and lets watch the show with a smile. Do well in the 5 states that PR is governing, show the rest of the states that we can be a better government. No revenue from federal government? talk to us from the business community on how we can help. Don’t just be arrogant and think that you guy can do it yourself.
Shiok Guy
http://shiokguy.blogspot.com/
Check out my questions for MP to ask in parliament here
http://shiokguy.blogspot.com/2008/04/questions-for-mp-who-dont-have-one.html
I will update it as more user post more questions
In the old days, only the opposition parties’ MPs or ADUN defected to BN and never vice versa !
Now, the wheel of fortune had changed.
But the same ethical question remains. Is cross-over without a by-election good for demoncracy and the development of responsible politics ?
This needs to be deliberated in great details.
I am inclined to support DAP’s stand on this issue.
Firstly, I do agree with Lone. Do we need Kataks? Especially from Sabah and Sarawak. As well mentioned by Teng Kim Chew, our Eastern Malaysian friends scenario are totally different. If PR can produce good governance in the 5 states, I think we will see a domino effects or “Tsunami” towards the remaining seats in the next election. If one of PR agendas is to revamp the current adminstration, it is better to have more than 2/3 majorities. As for hoping, the most I can see is just a simple majorities, yet fragile.
Leo
PR, if you want to get people jump ship, better do it soon. BN is out to break up your coalition. Look at the Karpal Singh issue. They are playing with Malay sentiments. The longer you dread the longer is to your disadvantage.