Dr M: A rib tickling lesson for Anwar
Published: Feb 6, 2009 12:52 PM | Updated: Feb 6, 2009 12:58 PM
The political turmoil in Perak appears to be nothing short of comical and serves as a lesson to Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, according to former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
The political turmoil in Perak appears to be nothing short of comical and serves as a lesson to Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, according to former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Describing it as a 'sandiwara', Mahathir, whose passion for horses is well-known, said: "Some have jumped out of the 'kandang' and some have jumped into the 'kandang'."
However, it could not be ascertained if the 82-year-old statesman had horses or some other animal in mind when making this remark.
But what is certain is that he was referring to the defection and reverse defection of four Pakatan Rakyat reps which paved the way for Barisan Nasional's political coup.
"The Sultan has decided but the Pakatan menteri besar (Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin) refuses to quit. His office has been vacated," continued Mahathir in his latest blog posting.
"Would the police carry the MB and chuck him out? Of course not, there is no law which would allow this," he said.
'Minority government'
Another possibility, Mahathir pointed out, is that Pakatan could form a minority government.
"But a minority government would be weak. He (the MB) could be toppled with a no-confidence vote by the majority of the state assembly members. Maybe Pakatan would not hold a sitting.
"Who has the right to hold a state assembly sitting? Could the majority force the minority government to hold a special sitting for a no-confidence vote?" he said.
If the minority government cannot be pushed into holding the special sitting, Mahathir said their rivals could act in numerous ways to 'spoil' Perak.
Meanwhile, Mahathir, whose enmity for Anwar is legendary, said the opposition leader would learn a lot from this episode, especially since he had talked about the biggest defection ever on Sept 16.
"What is most comical is hearing Anwar's comments regarding Bota assemblyperson Nasarudin Hashim who joined PKR and left PKR (and returned to Umno in a span of 10 days).
"Jumping in (the trap) is allowed but jumping out is illegal," added Mahathir, who ended his blog posting with "He, he, he".
Describing it as a 'sandiwara', Mahathir, whose passion for horses is well-known, said: "Some have jumped out of the 'kandang' and some have jumped into the 'kandang'."However, it could not be ascertained if the 82-year-old statesman had horses or some other animal in mind when making this remark.
But what is certain is that he was referring to the defection and reverse defection of four Pakatan Rakyat reps which paved the way for Barisan Nasional's political coup.
"The Sultan has decided but the Pakatan menteri besar (Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin) refuses to quit. His office has been vacated," continued Mahathir in his latest blog posting.
"Would the police carry the MB and chuck him out? Of course not, there is no law which would allow this," he said.
'Minority government'
Another possibility, Mahathir pointed out, is that Pakatan could form a minority government.
"But a minority government would be weak. He (the MB) could be toppled with a no-confidence vote by the majority of the state assembly members. Maybe Pakatan would not hold a sitting.
"Who has the right to hold a state assembly sitting? Could the majority force the minority government to hold a special sitting for a no-confidence vote?" he said.
If the minority government cannot be pushed into holding the special sitting, Mahathir said their rivals could act in numerous ways to 'spoil' Perak.
Meanwhile, Mahathir, whose enmity for Anwar is legendary, said the opposition leader would learn a lot from this episode, especially since he had talked about the biggest defection ever on Sept 16."What is most comical is hearing Anwar's comments regarding Bota assemblyperson Nasarudin Hashim who joined PKR and left PKR (and returned to Umno in a span of 10 days).
"Jumping in (the trap) is allowed but jumping out is illegal," added Mahathir, who ended his blog posting with "He, he, he".
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