Wayang Tinggi = High Drama

Plenty is going on. To save time I will comment on a few things using points.

1. First an answer to Mr Goh Chok Tong former Singapore PM who sort of made fun of Malaysia's political crisis. Well Mr Goh Chok Tong, you really cannot compare Singapore to Malaysia. We are much closer to being a real democracy.  The events of the past week in Malaysia certainly provide solid evidence for what Singapore is not. Singaporeans can only dream of the type of freedom and excitement that we have in Malaysian politics. Of course there is a price to pay for too much excitement but n'theless we will come out a stronger democracy. Malaysia is not a detention center. We will find our own level.

2.   Mariam Mokhtar says the present political crisis is the best thing that has happened to us (Click  here)  This is real democracy.  This is just one manifestation of democracy.  I agree fully with democracy. At a time when the institutions that support democracy may be compromised, the democratic process itself is alive and kicking in Malaysia. 

The judiciary may be immature, the Police may be compromised, the AG may be party to politics, the MACC may take instructions but at least the parliamentary system is intact. Like it or not the democratic process is alive and well in Malaysia. 

For example today the Speaker of the Parliament has said no to interim PM Dr Mahathir asking for a special Parliamentary sitting on Monday March 2nd 2020. (I hope this is not fake).

So this is evidence enough that this is not a dictatorship.

So do not be afraid folks. I repeat : do not be afraid. 

Power is in our hands. It is up to us what we want to happen in our country. 

3. Back to the Unity Government.  I believe the unity government (at this point in time) is a great idea.  There is one party that can really make this work. That is the DAP. 

If the DAP does not want Dr M to be a dictator, then join the unity government and act as a check and balance. If I were the DAP, with 42 seats, I would have booked a spot at the table long ago. It is better to be on the inside than the outside. Think about it. Today is Friday. Saturday is 10 hours away. That is a very long time in politics.

4. If there is a General Election, the reformed PH (PKR, DAP, Amanah) may lose to UMNO, BN, PAS, GPS and possibly Bersatu.  Warisan I don't know - they too have spoilt their name over the past 20 months.

PKR aka Anwar Ibrahim (or Anver Yibrahim as the Tamil mamaks would say) is now identified with the DAP. Anver Yibrahim is now pro DAP. Plus about 18 of PKR's 36 MPs are Chinese. So Anver Yibrahim is highly dependent on Chinese MPs (in PKR and DAP) . 

A Malay friend, a lawyer and well connected, said that most Malays, especially middle class Malays are not comfortable with Anwar Ibrahim plus his cosying up to the DAP. Meaning the Malay vote is cautious about Anwar Ibrahim, about the DAP and about the Anwar / DAP tie up.

Only the Chinese in DAP, Malaysiakini, online English language media etc are supportive of Anwar and DAP working together.  We do not know if all Chinese will support the DAP again. 

If there is a snap election, DAP will likely lose Penang.  If there is a snap election, it is highly likely that Gerakan may win or make strong inroads into Penang. Gerakan has a new boss Dr. Dominic Lau who is making some waves. 

DAP will NOT be able to get back their 42 Parliamentary seats. So the DAP better take all this into consideration.

And what if UMNO / PAS win back more seats? Sarawak and Sabah can swing their allegiance to whoever 'can work with them'.

Dominic Lau

5.  On the other hand a unity government can merge the extreme left and the extreme right. The extreme conservatives and the extreme liberals. Unity means compromise lah. Something can be worked out. It is time for Malaysia to get out of this race, religion crap. So give it a thought. The DAP has already cooperated with Bersatu (which is ex UMNO). Plus Dr Mahathir was DAP's No. 1 nemesis as UMNO PM for 22 years. 

This poster says it all. In Malaysian politics, anything is possible. Malaysia Boleh. 

So if there is one party that can put a stop to all the uncertainty, it is the DAP. 

If they can talk with Dr Mahathir then things can settle down very quickly.  

6.  Return to the status quo

Another friend of mine, a Malaysian who is an associate professor at an American University, suggests that this whole escapade over the past week is just a merry go round to do two things :  

1. get Anwar to stop with his 'I wanna be PM'  tantrums  and 

2.  to give Dr Mahathir a free hand in appointing the Cabinet 

And again the party at the epicenter is the DAP. 

If the DAP agrees to this and the DAP can talk to Anwar Ibrahim, then by next Monday the political situation in the country will be back to normal. 

But there is not much time. If the Agong / Ruler's Conference decide to dissolve Parliament and call for a snap election then it is game over for both the DAP and Anwar.  

So the DAP better decide in a hurry.

6. Fewer blog posts. 

Thank you for taking the blog views past 68 million hits. A few days ago there were almost 300,000 hits over a 24 hour period. Asia Sentinel has paid some homage to this blog (without naming me or the blog - bummer).

That was me lah.  So thank you everyone for taking the hits past 68 million and helping make the blog "influential". 

Someone asked earlier why I have reduced my posts on this blog. It is true I am putting up just one post a day or one every other day. I have to attend to other things as well - including our business and new business that I am exploring.  Plus other things in which I spend time.  My book reading time has to pick up much more. I am behind in some of my reading. 24 hours in a day is not enough. Two hands are also not enough. Why didn't the Creation give us four hands instead of two? 

7. The Johor State government has switched "hands". Here are some numbers, hope it is up todate:

    

LATEST Johore State Assembly

PH 28 

Opposition 27  

Neutral 1

So the PH government in Johor has "fallen"? The new BN government controls 28 seats only. But the state assembly only has 56 seats. 28 is not a simple majority. Simple majority is 29. If the Bersatu ADUNs again throw their support behind the PH then the Johor state government will collapse again.  Macam mana ini? 

I believe the same can happen in Perlis, Perak and Selangor. 

I think this is some horse trading between Bersatu and UMNO :   UMNO supports Dr M in Parliament and in return Bersatu "concedes" Johor and maybe some other states to Umno/BN. If UMNO/BN pull back their support for Dr M in Parliament, then the Bersatu ADUNs in Johor, Perak etc can swing their support as well. So both of them have got each other by the neck. 

That's all for now.