4 political parties made an agreement to form the Pakatan Harapan.
An agreement of common positions, values and principles, as would partially be reflected in Election Manifestos. - NO PROBLEM THERE
An agreement on who will contest in the different Parliament and/or State Legislative Assembly seat - NO PROBLEM THERE.
NO PROBLEM THERE - because that is up to the said 4 Political Parties, and the rest of us Malaysians have none or little say.
PROBLEM if these 4 Political Parties also agreed on who will be the Prime Minister, and who will be the subsequent Prime Minister and after how long?
WELL, that is NOT the decision of the 4 Pakatan Harapan political parties, and such agreement even goes against the Federal Constitution? Were even all the now elected Pakatan Harapan and other MPs even part of that decision-making process? Has it even been agreed to by the members of the said 4 different political parties?
Anwar Ibrahim and PKR, and some others, have been raising this issue about how it has been agreed that Anwar will succeed Mahathir as Prime Minister because of that 'agreement'? It has been a distraction but it is also affecting the REFORMS Malaysians expected after the UMNO-BN was ousted... The reforms are really so much more important than Anwar Ibrahim being the next Prime Minister...but apparently Anwar and his people are just too focussed on the 'next Prime Minister' rather than cleaning up and reforming the government.
NOW, Who decides on who is the Prime Minister, who will remain as Prime Minister and for how long, and later who will be the NEXT Prime Minister?
It is the PEOPLE(RAKYAT) that decides...not political parties, and who becomes PM, removed as PM or re-appointed as the next PM is determined by the people vide the Peoples' Representatives, the Members of Parliament(MP). MPs are peoples' representative and they listen to the people - not their political party or their leaders. They represent the people - not their political party.
So, will Mahathir be kicked out as PM or whether Anwar becomes the next PM - it is the decision of the people...and any 'agreement' between the PH parties is 'null and void' as it is also against the Federal Constitution.
43 Cabinet (Federal Constitution)(2) The Cabinet shall be appointed as follows, that is to say:(a) the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall first appoint as Perdana Menteri (Prime Minister) to preside over the Cabinet a member of the House of Representatives who in his judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of that House; and
Should Mahathir resign as Prime Minister in 2 years or 10 years? Well, that is up to the people...
Who should be the next Prime Minister? Anwar Ibrahim? - Well, that is also up to the people...
There is really NO URGENCY at all for us to even be talking about 'next PM' and when at this point, is there?
The problem that is emerging in the new government, especially in some of the Ministries is an 'UMNO-BN' like behavior and culture, and people are getting worried...that what they voted out...really just may have come back with a 'new' face? To be fair, not all MPs/Ministers are like this...
Disturbing trends being noticed..
- Appointment of self as Presidents of Universities, appointment of fellow party leaders as Chairmans/Board Members/CEOs of GLCs, government agencies...
- Insistence on political appointments for Local Council(Local Governments), Village leaders, etc [Tok Batins supporting BN in Cameron Highland - why?they are political appointees of the BN government, and it is not really democratically elected leaders of the Orang Asli Communities...]
- Request for preference with regard contracts/tenders for party leaders/members - This came out in one component party's General Meeting, and the suggestion seems to get support of many other members present...this was scary especially when not even 9 months after General Elections in May 2018.
- It is sad that NOT ALL government MPs have even submitted their Declaration of Assets - only about 93%. Recent check also seems to indicate that Anwar Ibrahim also has yet to submit his 'Asset Declaration' - a bad example by someone wanting to be future Prime Minister?
Remember that all MPs not in the Cabinet are known as the 'Backbenchers' and their duty is to serve as a check and balance of the government(PM and Cabinet included) - but have the PH backbenchers been speaking out? Or are there no concerns at all?
REFERENDUM - Ask the people who they want as their next Prime Minister?
REFERENDUM - Ask the people whether they want to change the current PM and when?
PERSONALLY, for our next Prime Minister, I would prefer someone who have not been in the past UMNO-BN Cabinet or party leadership(including Branch and/or Division leaders). WHY? They could be still 'influenced' by the old UMNO-BN culture, and as such there may be little or NO reforms...or even ideas.
Who are some of the others who could be considered as the next Prime Minister? What about Husam or Mat Sabu from Amanah? What about someone from DAP and/or PKR, who were not previously in UMNO-BN? What about Tony Pua? What about Barubian? Maybe, we could all look at the current MPs, and even non-MPs who could later become an MP through a by-election?
It really is crucial for these MPs and leaders to also speak-up so we know who they are? What their positions are? Many PH MPs are 'silent' - don't they have their own opinion? their own views? their own positions? their own thoughts and principles? [Those who simply silently choose not to express their views - who choose to 'blindly' support the position of the government on all matters is certainly not the kind of person we want as next PM?]
As party member, you may be bound to party or government decisions(which mind you are merely majority decisions/views). All you need to do when expressing a different opinion/view is to state that this is your personal view - not the party/government position, and no democratic government/political party will penalize members for expressing themselves as is a right in any democracy. If they do, then they demonstrate how undemocratic they are?
Next Prime Minister? What about a woman - Fuziah Salleh(the one who was very active on Lynas)? Nurul Izzah (her recent decision to not take any political appointment - maybe she is her own person?
A non-Malay Prime Minister? Why not? All are Malaysians and we should choose the best...What about Tony Pua(we all know that he works and was actively researching and exposing wrongs without fear or favour?), Charles Santiago (a human rights activist turn politician, actively talking and educating about issues about TPPA, worker and other issues..), ...
What about a Malay, not previously in any UMNO-BN Cabinet or leadership position? Maybe Husam Musa(he highlighted possible wrongdoing on issues of land/forest and got 'expelled' from PAS, making him different from those who lost PAS elections and left to form Amanah?), Mat Sabu (We know that he has been vocal and from Parti Amanah), Syed Saddiq( young man possibly not yet influenced by bad political practices...)
What about the party leaders - maybe they should not be PM or Minister but play the important role of check and balance as one of 4 PH party leaders? When they joined Cabinet, well they lose some of their freedom to act as a Cabinet is the PMs cabinet and being in Cabinet, they cannot effectively just speak out as their party leader, can they?
ANWAR IBRAHIM - I wonder...
Whether PKR threatened not to be part of Pakatan Hareapan if the other parties did not agree to immediately 'Pardon' Anwar, and agree that Anwar will thereafter replace Mahathir as PM? If other party leaders did not agree, then Pakatan Harapan may have just been Amanah, Bersatu and DAP, who really may have also generated the same GE14 results?
If that happened, one is concerned whether wellbeing and the future of Malaysians was a PRIMARY concern at all for PKR? for Anwar?
Because there was no contest for PKR President, one wonders whether he even have the support of the 100,000 plus PKR members? What percentage? [PKR did mention that they did have about 800,000 plus members who could vote - but looking at the election results, I wonder? Did the majority of PKR members 'boycott' the party elections? Why? OR does PKR really have much lesser real members...lesser members really is not a factor - because most Malaysians choose to not be formal members of parties, but rather just support or do not support from the outside...
As of May 9 when the 14th general election was held, PKR’s membership stood at 550,000 members but shot up to more than 900,000 by June 26. Saifuddin added that PKR had updated its membership list and following that, approximately 840,000 members were eligible to vote in the party’s polls which start tomorrow in Penang and Kedah. - New Straits Times, 21/9/2018
As the final official day of voting ended today, Azmin Ali appeared set to win a third term as PKR deputy president against a strong challenge by Rafizi Ramli.According to an unofficial tally by Malaysiakini, Azmin now has 67,449 votes against Rafizi's 62,716 votes, which marked a 4,733 majority. - Malaysiakini, 11/11/2018
Remember, UMNO too claimed a membership of 3 million...
Umno's strength comes from its 3 million members and not from certain individuals, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak here today.He said thus, former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad could stick to his decision of not ever returning to Umno as the move would not cause any problem to the party."I am not being arrogant or trying to humiliate him (Dr Mahathir)...The truth is, the party's strength lies in the support of its 3 million members, not just the president alone. That is why I am saying that he can go ahead with it. If he didn't come, it is not a problem. - New Straits Times, 30/7/2017
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