"The Barisan Nasional does not fear fresh elections in Perak and will face the rakyat (people) when the time comes."
—Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak [The Star]
But of course if it's possible, BN would like very much to avoid a fresh election. Never mind what the people feel about the situation. If BN can hold on to power in Perak, then they will have about 3 years to win over the people before the next general election. That is much better than risking a fresh election.
Now a fair number of Malaysians are convinced that if a fresh election is held in Perak, the Pakatan Rakyat has a very good chance to win. Therefore, they feel cheated if BN is somehow able to hold on to power by means of the legal process instead of going through a fresh election. There are so many blogs lamenting on the injustice in Perak. So many parties are calling for a fresh election in Perak—"let the people decide," they say.
Well, I am inclined to agree that the best way to know what the Perakians really want is to hold a fresh election. But I just wonder if the situation is reversed in Perak, whether Malaysians would still feel the same way about the fresh election?
Imagine for a moment that BN won the last general election in Perak with a very slim majority. And it is Pakatan that is now able to lure some MPs over so they're able to shift the majority to their side. They then form a new government in Perak without a fresh election. Will we be happier then?
I'm raising the above question because some months ago the Pakatan Rakyat claimed that they had enough MPs wanting to jump over, and they would have had enough to form a new government. The great Anwar Ibrahim did not mention anything about a fresh general election in his take-over bid. And no one raised that possibility too. It did not happen of course, but what if it did? Would we have insisted on a fresh election so that we can be "democratic"?
I suspect many Malaysians might think differently if the situation is reversed. How come?
2 comments:
He did
http://tinyurl.com/sotomee
By jove! you are right, delurk! My mistake, I missed that.
But of course whether or not he would have kept his promise if the massive crossover happened remains to be seen. The man is after all a politician. There is no 100% reliance on a politician's words - especially this one.
Anyway, my point is that would we feel differently if the situation is reversed in Perak now; that Pakatan secured the majority by means of MPs' crossover. Would we have insisted for a fresh election? I have a feeling some of us might think it's OK not to have a fresh election. In fact, I spoke to some friends, and they didn't think it's necessary to have a fresh election if the situation is reversed. It made me wonder whatever happened to the cry for democracy.
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