Like every other Malaysian, I am deeply distracted and troubled by the Perak constitutional crisis. It has, to my mind, unnecessarily damaged two very important constitutional institutions in our beloved country.
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First, the nonsense of party-hopping and the response to the party-hopping caper drew the Royal House of Perak into the frame. It is patently unfair and, completely immoral, to bring the "dignified element", as constitutional scholars call the monarchy, into a sullied and soiled political game of brinksmanship.
Unfair and unnecessary pressure was put to bear on the Perak Royal House to play the role of constitutional arbiter when such a role was clearly never contemplated by the drafters of the Perak State Constitution. To any neutral observer, the Tuanku Sultan was in a quandary. It was a case of damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don't.
All the political players involved in the fiasco are fully responsible for causing the distress to the Perak Royal House. Each of the political actors should be seen for what they are; crass opportunists who don't give a damn what happens to the constitutional processes, the well-being of the institution of the monarchy, the well-being of the rakyat of Perak, the well-being of the rakyat of Malaysia, the impact on the economy of the state and the nation.
On this yardstick, does ANY one of the political actors involved in the fracas have any basis to remain as elected representatives? If there is a way, the rakyat should bungkus the lot of them and send them to Galapagos ... no, wait.... we shouldn't spoil the delicate ecology there ... send them to the Gobi Desert where they can screw each other to their heart's content.
Leave the rest of us alone to live our serene and peaceful lives. Bloody politicians and their politics.
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Second, resorting to the courts is a natural option. Every citizen and every institution has the right to seek a legal resolution to their dispute.
But, those of us who understand the legal process, anywhere, not just in Malaysia, would have clearly understood that the outcome of the legal proceedings was going to put unfair and unnecessary pressure on the Judiciary.
The reason is simple and, obvious. The litigants are bloody politicians. They are all tainted fruits, the lot of them. You know that by-hook-or-by-crook they were each going to apply their gamesmanship and brinksmanship on the Judiciary.
Whatever the outcome at whichever tier of the Judiciary, someONE will be aggrieved and outraged.
What chance did the Judiciary have? None.
The worst of it all is that, under pressure, the poor judges are prone to make mistakes. It has already happened, in my opinion.
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The Judiciary is now perceived as being in sixes-and-sevens again. The ghosts of crises past - from 1988 (the sacking of the Lord President and Supreme Court judges) - from 2007 (the correct, correct, correct episode) has come back to haunt us again. That may be unfair. It probably is unfair. But, that's what it is - an unfair perception - but, a perception, no less.
You can fell a 100-year old raintree in an hour. But it will take another 100 years to grow it back.
This is what we should all be concerned about. Our breed of low-life politicians have such low regard for constitutional institutions. They skirt around and cut corners on legal and procedural due processes.
Then, they wonder why the level of confidence is so low within the nation and, from outside investors.
That is the quality of the low-life that we seem to consistently vote for.
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Back to Perak. The sensible thing to do is to re-boot the whole thing.
As Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has called for, the proper thing to do is to dissolve the DUN and, go back to the rakyat.
Win or, lose, at least each of the tainted politicians can look at each Malaysian in the eye and say with utmost sincerity, "I PUT OUR TUANKU SULTAN, OUR CONSTITUTION AND, OUR STATE BEFORE MY OWN SELF-INTEREST".
------
First, the nonsense of party-hopping and the response to the party-hopping caper drew the Royal House of Perak into the frame. It is patently unfair and, completely immoral, to bring the "dignified element", as constitutional scholars call the monarchy, into a sullied and soiled political game of brinksmanship.
Unfair and unnecessary pressure was put to bear on the Perak Royal House to play the role of constitutional arbiter when such a role was clearly never contemplated by the drafters of the Perak State Constitution. To any neutral observer, the Tuanku Sultan was in a quandary. It was a case of damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don't.
All the political players involved in the fiasco are fully responsible for causing the distress to the Perak Royal House. Each of the political actors should be seen for what they are; crass opportunists who don't give a damn what happens to the constitutional processes, the well-being of the institution of the monarchy, the well-being of the rakyat of Perak, the well-being of the rakyat of Malaysia, the impact on the economy of the state and the nation.
On this yardstick, does ANY one of the political actors involved in the fracas have any basis to remain as elected representatives? If there is a way, the rakyat should bungkus the lot of them and send them to Galapagos ... no, wait.... we shouldn't spoil the delicate ecology there ... send them to the Gobi Desert where they can screw each other to their heart's content.
Leave the rest of us alone to live our serene and peaceful lives. Bloody politicians and their politics.
------
Second, resorting to the courts is a natural option. Every citizen and every institution has the right to seek a legal resolution to their dispute.
But, those of us who understand the legal process, anywhere, not just in Malaysia, would have clearly understood that the outcome of the legal proceedings was going to put unfair and unnecessary pressure on the Judiciary.
The reason is simple and, obvious. The litigants are bloody politicians. They are all tainted fruits, the lot of them. You know that by-hook-or-by-crook they were each going to apply their gamesmanship and brinksmanship on the Judiciary.
Whatever the outcome at whichever tier of the Judiciary, someONE will be aggrieved and outraged.
What chance did the Judiciary have? None.
The worst of it all is that, under pressure, the poor judges are prone to make mistakes. It has already happened, in my opinion.
---------
The Judiciary is now perceived as being in sixes-and-sevens again. The ghosts of crises past - from 1988 (the sacking of the Lord President and Supreme Court judges) - from 2007 (the correct, correct, correct episode) has come back to haunt us again. That may be unfair. It probably is unfair. But, that's what it is - an unfair perception - but, a perception, no less.
You can fell a 100-year old raintree in an hour. But it will take another 100 years to grow it back.
This is what we should all be concerned about. Our breed of low-life politicians have such low regard for constitutional institutions. They skirt around and cut corners on legal and procedural due processes.
Then, they wonder why the level of confidence is so low within the nation and, from outside investors.
That is the quality of the low-life that we seem to consistently vote for.
---------
Back to Perak. The sensible thing to do is to re-boot the whole thing.
As Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has called for, the proper thing to do is to dissolve the DUN and, go back to the rakyat.
Win or, lose, at least each of the tainted politicians can look at each Malaysian in the eye and say with utmost sincerity, "I PUT OUR TUANKU SULTAN, OUR CONSTITUTION AND, OUR STATE BEFORE MY OWN SELF-INTEREST".
6 comments:
The most sensible observation I have seen so far re Perak crisis. Damn them all, de minimis.. for creating so much unnecessary tension and sullying the Perak throne..
Thank you, Kak.
And in the nick of time, too. It's starting to get crowded in the office relocation business over there.
You know, moving files in and out of offices of the state's administration.
This type of headache can only be cleared with some of those white coffee. Extra-strong, pls.
;P
bro walla
As they always call out in a Hainanese kopi tiam, "Kopi-si nor, kau-kau"!
Excellent one brother & kudos to your comments. Quite well put forth and it's damning to watch the fiasco in Perak from day to day.
Whatever it is, democracy has to be returned rightfully to the Perakians & let them decide who they choose as their Yang BerKhidmats moving forward.
Cheers mate,
Christopher
Thoughtful article. You have painted the Sultan as an innocent party caught in the machinations of PR and BN.
As you have righted pointed out, perception is important. When the Sultan started a cat-and-mouse game with Nizar's advice for a dissolution of the State Assembly, that's when the public started to perceive a certain bias against PR.
That act is the Sultan's alone. No force was applied by Nizar against the Sultan. If anything, he was more than respectful.
So, if any damning is to be done, it should be against Najib, Zambry and the 3 frogs, plus the SPR and the judiciary. We can claim that the courts validated the SPR's actions. However, on previous occasions, actions by the Speaker to declare a vacancy has always been accepted. So, in the public's eyes, the SPR were biased against PR. We don't need to go into how low the public esteem for the judiciary has sunk.
The 3 frogs have the right to jump. However, they cannot repudiate a letter that they have signed.
To sum up, damning the politicians is right but only the BN, the SPR and the judiciary.
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