Saturday, September 15, 2018

MP Danyal folly? Anwar? Unnecessary waste of our monies? Betrayal? Hero?

MP Danyal Balagopal Abdullah (Port Dickson) may have just betrayed the people of Port Dickson...? Not even 200 days after GE14, he has resigned as MP - There must be many who worked and donated monies/effort to get Danyal elected who would feel betrayed, even cheated...when the man they worked hard to become MP simply resigned...



Yes, 36,225 voters(people) chose Danyal Balagopal Abdullah to be their 'peoples' representative' ...

And now, possibly without any discussion and consultation with the people of Port Dickson, he has 'resigned' making way for a by-election which will possibly see Anwar Ibrahim contesting...

It is OK if a MP, after consultation with the people he represents, the very same people who chose him as their peoples' representative - their Member of Parliament, comes a decision to RESIGN for whatever reason...

In GE14, Danyal Balagopal Abdullah contested as a Pakatan Haraapan candidate. If he simply cvontested as a PKR candidate, there is a high chance that he would have lost. So, when a PH MP decides to resign for whatever reason, he should have consulted and got PH approval. Did he even consult with Pakatan Harapan groups in his constituency before his decision? (Note this is also still not a consultation with the voters in Port Dickson, which he should have done before tendering his resignation) 

Did he consult with PKR members in Port Dickson? 

Why did Danyal decide on his own, OR was he 'ordered'/directed by the PKR leadership (or some in PKR leadership)?

Are all PH MPs from PKR originally just like Danyal, who will simply resign or do things as directed by their political party? This makes them not really 'peoples' representative'....but simply 'party representatives'...?

Is it even a PKR decision to make? Well, they stood as Pakatan Harapan candidates - so, really that decision should not simply be a decision of PKR - but should have been a decision of Pakatan Harapan, should it not? [What led to break-up of Pakatan Rakyat, some say was the 'Kajang Move' decision, which some alleged was made by PKR alone, without discussion with the other PR partners?]


RESIGNATION OF AN MP - when is it OK, and when is it not? 
 
It is OK if a Parliamentary seat gets vacated through death or incapacitating illness. 

It is even OK to resign if the people who voted you in are not happy with you, and wanted you to resign. A loss of confidence of a majority(or a significant number) of the people of Port Dickson.[We really need laws to enable the people of constituency the ability of getting rid of their MP/ADUN - there are such laws in many countries, not yet in Malaysia]
It is OK to resign if you change political party mid-stream - because the fact that you were a candidate of a particular party may have been the reason for some voters to vote you in as MP...(The law need to be changed here to allow such resignation, to allow a resigning MP to contest in the by-election to reaffirm the peoples' support for him to continue to be their MP.)

BUT to simply resign ...just to make way for your Party President(Anwar) to be able to contest to be a MP is, I believe, wrong.

MALAYSIAN PEOPLE'S MONEY - Well, PKR or Pakatan Harapan is not going to pay the cost of a by-elections, are they? So, the money will be the Malaysian peoples' money (or government money). Knowing the state of Malaysia, where the government also reached out to the people for 'donations' to help the financial situation of Malaysia - to now have yet-another by-election is just not right.

Will Danyal Balagopal Abdullah or PKR or Pakatan Harapan be returning the monies that the government will have to be utilized for this by-elections caused by Danyal's resignation?

Maybe AG Tommy Thomas should look into the possibility of commencing an action against  Danyal Balagopal Abdullah to recover the peoples' monies that now have to be spend in carrying out an unnecessary by-election caused by the unnecessary resignation of this MP, which now seems to be for no good reason.

Malaysia is having money problems, and people have been donating to the Tabung Harapan to help out. And Danyal Balagopal Abdullah has personally caused unnecessary expenditure. Surely, Danyal will not be allowed to escape after doing this? Danyal to date has not given any other good reason save for vacating his seat to enable Anwar to have a chance to become an MP...

There also need to be investigation whether 'corruption' was involved. Was Danyal paid to resign? Was Danyal promised some other benefits and/or positions? The people should keep an eye on Danyal from now on....[Now a PKR President has 'great powers' and can personally select and appoint about 20 members into the Central Leadership Council(Majlis Pimipinan Pusat) - PKR Constitutions vest way too much power on the President - something that really should not be in a truly democratic society - something we may look at later 

ANWAR'S RUSH TO BE MP IS UNREASONABLE AND UNNECESSARY?

There really is no need for Anwar Ibrahim to rush to become a Member of Parliament(MP) NOW, is there. He could have simply waited for a while until some Parliamentary seat fell vacant naturally...If however, maybe after a year plus, no seats fall vacant - then maybe, it may be justified for such a 'PD Move'..

So WHY is Anwar in a rush?  

Maybe, there is growing worry considering the reduced voter turn out in the recent 3 by-elections, and the reduced majority being received by Pakatan Harapan candidates...A trend that could signify a 'growing discontent' in Pakatan Harapan led government or maybe just in General Elections. Or maybe not?

In any event, the last 3 by elections were rather insignificant, for even if the Opposition won, it will not change anything since Pakatan Harapan already had a significant majority in the Selangor State Legislative Assembly(DUN). 

Another reason, was that people would belief (thanks to what UMNO-BN did in the past) that it was better to vote for a PH ADUN to ensure that their constituency is not in any way 'discriminated' by the current State government. [I hope that the Pakatan Harapan led-government will no longer discriminate against any constituencies that chose as their MP/ADUN persons not from Pakatan Harapan parties as their chosen peoples' representatives...BUT sadly, this 'discrimination' against such constituencies have already started by the differing allowance given to MP/ADUN of other parties...].

Hope this will stop - for this is undemocratic conduct, and undermine the peoples' right to choose their own peoples' representative.

Is Anwar's rush got anything to do with the current PKR internal elections, which now is scheduled to end most likely after the PD by-elections?

Is Anwar worried about the possible of PKR becoming more democratic - the possibility of members voting in leaders for the best interest of the party, rather than simply voting in those that will simply accept and follow whatever Anwar wants?

Maybe, Anwar is worried that PKR members may chose more leaders who are not Anwar's loyal unquestioning supporters - people who may oppose decisions of PKR that is contrary to what they believe is right..irrespective of what Anwar or any other individual leader feels?

TRUE DEMOCRACY can be scary...more so now for PKR, if members of PKR get in a majority of leaders of PKR who will no longer blindly and/or unquestioningly do what Anwar wants...Well, later the majority of the elected leaders of PKR may even decide against any such "PD Move' or even may decide against placing Anwar as candidate for MP in any upcoming by-election?

BUT THEN, since Anwar will be President, with the power to personally choose and appoint at least 20 members into the 'Majlis Pimpinan Pusat' .(Go see the PKR Constitution, and see if you come to a similar conclusion)

According to PKR Constitution, members will only democratically elect President, Deputy President, 4 Vice President and 27 members to the Central Leadership Council. 2 from the Youth Wing and Women's Wing come in, one as a Vice President and one an ordinary member each. PRESIDENT alone decides who will be 3 other VPs, Secretary and other position holders. President decides in State Chairpersons[who will be in Central Leadership Council), and 7 other persons as members of the Central Leadership Council. [The persons from amongst the elected 27 who are chosen by President to hold other positions may be beholding to the President, who also may have the power to remove them from these positions - such persons will be 7 persons].  

If Anwar did not win the Presidency uncontested, there would have been an opportunity to demonstrate the significant support of members that Anwar had in PKR...[One thing for PKR and other political parties to think about is a change in their election rules - where even if there is only ONE candidate for the post of President[and maybe some other top posts], there would still be a need for an election by members...and if the said candidate fails to secure more than 50% of the votes cast - then there will be another round of nominations and elections again. Maybe in such cases, the ballot paper will contain a column 'None of the Above'. It will be good to know how much real support of members, he/she really has.]

In any event, Anwar will soon be PKR President - but not yet, I believe. He would, I believe got an exemption from the Registrar of Society to be the President. Anwar - Can he be President of PKR? Societies Act says he cannot unless...

Now Danyal has resigned. PKR has announced that Anwar will be contesting the vacated Port Dickson Parliamentary seat...Other Pakatan Harapan maybe unhappy that Pakatan Harapan component parties may or may not have been part of the decision making - but the 'wrong' has been done. DAP already came out in support of the move...

Did PKR make the decision? There have been reports that suggest that some of the members of the  Central Leadership Council(Majlis Pimpinan Pusat) were not in support of the decision - That is OK if the Majlis Pimpinan Pusat(MPP) met and decided. Such decisions will be carried if there is a simple majority - there is no need for a 'concensus' as seem to be suggested by Zuraidah.[The concensus means all members of the MPP agreed - there were no objectors or people that abstained. In a democratic society, majority vote is enough. For more serious matters, normally specified like amendment to constitution, then the higher requirement of two third majority may be required] 

But should also soon have a law that allows the people themselves to remove their Member of Parliament and/or ADUN [and hopefully soon their Local Councillor and Senator after we in Malaysia gets the right to democratically elect our own Local Government and Senate members...]. In UK, the law that gives people to remove their MPs, etc have been enacted - the Recall of MPs Act 2015..


The Recall of MPs Act 2015 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made provision for constituents to be able to recall their Member of Parliament and call a by-election. It received Royal Assent on 26 March 2015 after being introduced on 11 September 2014.
It is also odd that PKR did this at this time when their party elections is happening. Remember because of past recent by-elections, PKR did in fact delay party elections...So, the voluntary resignation of MP Danyal is most suspicious...Could it have really been just a Danyal and Anwar decision? 

In any event, there are many concerns ...Will Anwar move forward and get nominated...and, if so, do we punish Anwar with our votes ...or do we 'pardon' him and support him?

Being the possible next Prime Minister, his conduct and the manner in which he becomes an MP,...are important .... 

The 'PD Move' is clearly an act that disrespected the people of Port Dickson...and is also a move that will incur much government expenditure. How much money will the government have to spend in the upcoming PD by-elections, which I hope the government will claim against MP Danyal Balagopal Abdullah (and maybe also PKR and Anwar)??? Let's see what Tommy Thomas says...

Personally, it would have been best for Anwar to have waited for a Parliamentary seat to be naturally vacated by reason of death,... 

Better still, if it was done after Anwar had managed to judicially review the court decisions that resulted in his convictions. I believe Anwar has already filed the needed application in court. 

He has received a 'PARDON' but that does not overturn the past convictions in court - it merely would have removed the hurdles that would have prevented him from immediately running for elections. Anwar's Pardon - Meaning, Validity and Matters concerning Attorney General? * It is sad that many still are confused about the meaning, the powers and the effect of a Pardon by the King. Ours is a Constitutional Democracy - not a Feudalism where then a King can do anything. In Malaysia, the King can only do so much as provided in law. He cannot overturn a court's decision - and declare anyone convicted of a crime as being 'Not Guilty'. I have  included this as some writers seems to have a misunderstanding of the effect of  the King's pardon for Anwar.


* This is my personal opinion - what do you all think.
 

Port Dickson seat vacated for Anwar to contest





KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 12): The Port Dickson parliamentary seat has been vacated to pave way for a by-election to be contested by PKR president-elect Anwar Ibrahim, reports Malaysiakini.

It said incumbent MP Danyal Balagopal Abdullah announced his intention to vacate the seat at a press conference in Petaling Jaya today.

In the 14th general election, Danyal won Port Dickson with a 17,740-vote majority against BN and PAS.- The Edge Markets, 12/9/2018

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