I used to admire the Regent of Perak, Raja Nazri Shah because of his modern view of government and governance issues. However, when, the opposition party won the majority of the Perak state seats (http://www.nst.com.my/Election08) in the recent election, 31 Vs UMNO’s 28, he choosed the Menteri Besar from the party which won the LEAST seats in the State Election. No doubt this small party (PAS) is the king maker, i.e., 2 of the members could defect to UMNO, giving UMNO 30 seats hence a majority to form a government, however, logically one would think that DAP should have the right to be upset. Then came the statement, that the people in Perak must remember that Perak is a “Malay” land…. So much for a progressive, modern and fair Prince….
Anyway, I was impressed with Sultan of Selangor’s support and understanding of different races in his state though no deputy Menteri Besar from the minority was chosen. Nevertheless, I began to admire him because of obvious his respect for other races. I remembered that he was the one who started to reduce the number of datoship (knighthood) in Malaysia as he realized that there were too many datoship was given out annually, some bought, some through cronyism via the Menteri Besar’s suggestion and some with dubious record. Those who are convicted of criminal offense would be strip of his/her datoship... Maybe we should have that kind of system in Brunei... there are too many dato who berlagak too much... mengambang lagi... sekali kena sue bankrupt, habis ilang title... padan mua
Then came the impasse from Trengganu. After two weeks of state election, Terengganu still has no Menteri Besar because the person chosen by Abdullah Badawi was rejected by the Malaysian King, who is also the Sultan of Trengganu. It’s about time that royalty ask the Menteri Besar to be transparent and not be corrupt during their tenure, as exemplified by the former Kedah Menteri Besar, who was also rejected by the Sultan of Kedah? Terlampau banyak business yang dubious... check this site why the Sultan of Terengganu IS angry with former Menteri Besar, Datuk Idris.. http://www.malaysia-today.net/2008/content/view/4974/84/
If there’s nothing to hide, then why all state documents were missing from the Menteri Besar office when a new one was appointed? More excitement to be seen in Penang as the new Chief Minister will surely reveal any embarrassing politically motivated projects which enrich some section of the society…
No party hopping in the future? Well, Dr. Mahathir wouldn't like that, he was the one who perfected the art of party hopping ... otherwise, in the 1990s, Sabah wouldnt have fallen to the hands of the BN team... The opposition party of course, would love to have this law pass in Parliament, its the BN group which has to be careful.