I refer to the Malaysiakini report Perak gov't collapses - BN claims power.

For those who still have ideals, the ‘fall’ of the Perak state government must be a rude awakening.

It is now very clear that politics has been consumed by the unmitigated pursuit of power. In this case, power at any costs.

Those who still believe in a gentleman's code of conduct, where morals and ideals triumph at the end of the day, must now get up from their slumber and join PAS.

It does not matter if the Perak state government was doing a good job or not. The bottom line is that power has been lost. For Pakatan Rakyat, the bitterness will not be forgotten.

For many Malaysians, the deed will never be forgiven. Pakatan is sure to use the ‘Perak Incident’ as their battle cry come 2013 unless, by then, Malaysia no longer practices an electoral democracy.

In short, we are entering new political terrain where the stakes are absolute. There can be no prisoners. Those in power want to remain so. Those after power, will now do whatever necessary to obtain it.

So, even if BN forms the government in Perak, any hope that conciliatory gestures will be reciprocated will be impossible. A unity government cannot function.

One can only hope that by the time this letter is published, the people of Perak would have been given a new chance to elect a new state government. Let’s see then how BN will accommodate their new found friends and where those ‘independents’ end up.

For those of us outside the ring, we can only look at the political scenario and ponder when did it all turn into a menagerie. All this political wrangling oblivious to a world in the midst of an economic crisis.

As Dr Mahathir Mohamad rightly pointed out, a lot of energy has been expanded to winning over two state assembly persons of dubious quality.

We can only hope that the government machinery was not unhinged from the business of overcoming job losses, facing up to the consequences of an international banking crisis and the challenges associated with an economy that is showing signs of recession.

Malaysia is indeed a queer country. Other countries go into political crisis as a result of an economic crisis, we are in political crisis going into an economic one.

The terrible reality is that this political crisis was brought on by politicians and inflicted upon us when the nation should be united to face a global crisis. Instead, they have divided the nation further.

Whatever the outcome in Perak, one thing is certain. After today, everything will be blamed on politics.

Those politicians who gambled with our future will reap the whirlwind. We will hold them accountable not only in 2013 but into the distant future, as long as memory of this survives.