Let’s fight it out

PENANG, Feb 1 – Perhaps it is time for the Perak Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin to seek the Sultan’s consent to dissolve the Perak State Assembly. If granted, I am confident that Pakatan Rakyat will win. A Pakatan victory will spell the end of Umno/Barisan Nasional.

By all accounts it looks like the two Parti KeADILan Rakyat Behrang assemblyman Jamaluddin Radzi and his Changkat Jering colleague Osman Jailu, who have been reported “missing”, are confirmed crossing over to Barisan Nasional.

They are “missing” ala P.I. Bala-style for a reason. They won’t surface until BN gathers enough numbers to topple the PR government at once.

According to the grapevine, at least one state assemblyperson from DAP is scheduled to meet MCA President Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat tonight to seal a deal that will bring down the nascent PAS, DAP and PKR joint state government.

There is no time to lose.

And, there is nothing to lose for Pakatan to return to the people for a fresh mandate.

Unlike Umno, PR parties have not been tied down by vested interests. Apart from State Executive Councilors losing the right to use their official cars, almost no one loses anything if PR fails to wrest back the state in an election.

But if PR wins the election, Umno/Barisan Nasional will collapse soon after. Just imagine the impact of hundreds of Pematang Pauh and Kuala Terengganu combined.

I am confident that with a better slate of candidates and a well planned campaign, Pakatan Rakyat will win comfortably. Non-Malay support for PR in general has increased after March 8th while Kuala Terengganu shows that it is possible for Pakatan to win Malay support.

To hold election now is good for PR as Umno is fractious and more interested in its own party election than anything else.

There is a caveat here. The Sultan may reject the request for dissolution. But being the reputably most enlightened House in country, His Royal Highness would have to take into consideration his own place in history when he decides. Either way, it will have far reaching consequences for his state, and the nation.

With a request to dissolve the State Assembly, the buck stops at the Sultan’s court, not Pakatan’s. That’s sufficed in a crisis situation as we have already done our part to attempt to return to the people.