Perak ahead in “local” elections!

There are one good news and one bad news.

The good news is that Perak will have its village chief elections as early as next month (April). (full news below) So we are seeing something new after March 8. Unlike his counterparts elsewhere, the PAS Menteri Besar has no problems with more elections.

On this count, Mr Nizar has shown more democratic credential than the PKR Menteri Besar in Selangor which have similar vacancies to fill up. Not sure if the Penang CM, Kedah MB and Kelantan MB are in similar positions.

The bad news will come in the next post.

Election of Perak village chiefs to start next month

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/3/31/nation/20798883&sec=nation

 
BAGAN SERAI: The election of new village chiefs in Perak will start next month and not early next year following the end of their tenures on Dec 1.

Sharing my thought on Democratic Transition – Penang, March 29, 8pm

Analysis of General Election: “Where is Democratization of Malaysia Heading Towards?”

Date: 29 March 2008

Time: 8pm

Venue: Penang Chinese Town Hall

Speakers: Mr. Wong Chin Huat and Anil Netto

Moderator: Ng Eng Kiat  

Language: English

Organizer: SUARAM Penang

Any inquiry please contact Shu Shi 012-8756179

Syed Husin Ali: Palace should respect the voice of majority

PKR’s deputy president, Syed Hussien Ali has called for the Terengganu Palace to respect the voice of the people and the majority of the state lawmakers.

Now, that’s what I call a man of principle. If every politician in PKR is like him, we would have a party of principle. I wish other opposition politicians will join him to affirm their commitment to democracy. It would be a very sad thing if Syed turns out to be the conscience of PKR and the opposition coalition.

Are we living in a constitutional monarchy?

Malik Imtiaz asked “Crisis in Terengganu? What crisis?”

Supporting his view with a detailed analysis of the Terengganu State Constitution, he asserted that “the Sultan cannot be expected, nor does the Constitution require His Royal Highness, to act as a rubber-stamp.”

He lamented that “[r]egrettably the rhetoric of the Prime Minister and the Attorney General lend to a conclusion that the Regent and the advisory council are expected to rubber stamp the wishes of the majority.”

He claimed that “[t]hough this may have been how appointments were made in the past, this does not bind the Sultan or the Regent in the present, more so where the past practice may not have been Constitutionally thought through.”

Going beyond interpretation the letters of law, he indirectly justified the rejection of Idris Jusoh by questioning the basis of his support: “…… it is glaringly obvious that twenty UMNO assembly-men who have endorsed the appointment of Idris Jusoh may not necessarily be acting in accordance with their own conscience but rather the dictates of the party. There is, in a manner of speaking, a dimension of duress in the saga, made obvious by the threats of disciplinary action that have been leveled against Ahmad Said by UMNO. To this end, it is questionable whether it can be said that Idris Jusoh truly commands the confidence of the majority of the Legislative Assembly.”

I have not studied my copy of Terengganu State Constitution but am nevertheless convinced that the well-respected constitutional lawyer has done his homework.

His insight on Idris Jusoh’s mandate nevertheless also reminds me whether PKR’s 15 lawmakers in Selangor who were “put under house arrest” by the party in a hotel before the formation of the new government was confirmed have had their conscience violated.

However, if his interpretation of the Terengganu State Constitution is right, I have one important question: are we living in a constitutional monarchy?

On Elections: Hedging against a bigger tsunami

BN needs to democratize, not only for the best interest of the nation, but for its own survival. Below is my take published in the Sun today.

Hedging against a bigger tsunami
Wong Chin Huat
PETALING JAYA (March 18, 2008): Merely 56,822 votes – that’s how close Barisan Nasional (BN) came to losing its federal power in the wake of March 8’s electoral tsunami. BN led DAP with 51 votes in Sarikei (Sarawak), its weakest link. In its 30th weakest seat, Stampin (also Sarawak), BN’s winning margin was only 3,070 votes.

In between them were nine seats from Perak, three each from Pahang and Sabah, two each from Selangor, Kedah and Terengganu, one each from Johor, Malacca, Perlis and Putrajaya, as well as two more from Sarawak (see table 1).

On Elections: How close was Malaysia from regime change? (correction)

The answer: only 56,822 votes.

That was what the opposition needed to bag thirty more seats and form the government with exactly a simple majority. The average margin for the 30 most marginal seats was only 1,893 votes. In other words, the opposition only needs to win 1,894 votes in average to unseat BN.

Here’s the list of the 30 seats that saved BN on March 8th:

BN needs to reinvent itself (full text)

(Correction: “UMNO” in the 2004 Bar in the second chart should have been “PAS”)

As ironical as it can be, Gerakan’s election slogan “reinventing” is now the remedy Barisan Nasional (BN) needs.

The niche of BN’s rule has always been its powering-sharing formula: Malay dominance with minority representation. The formula is now under threat.

 

Derek Fernandez: Local Elections Possible Without Federal Approval

From Malaysiatoday.

(THE SUN) – There are loopholes in the law which can enable state governments to introduce local government elections without the approval of the federal government.

On Elections: why ethnic tension will not get out of hand if UMNO is still rationale

Granted, this is nothing new. Post-election BN is practically a coalition of UMNO and East Malaysian Parties.

People do ask about BN’s share of total valid votes (excluding spoiled/rejected votes) and below is what I have calculated from the SPR data compiled by my friend Tze Min.

State	Seats	Turnout %	BN/TVV	Malay %
Perlis	3	81.01%	60.15%	83.04%
Kedah	15	80.30%	46.84%	77.58%
Kelantan	14	82.29%	44.71%	94.27%
Terengganu	8	84.74%	55.11%	95.42%
Pulau Pinang	13	78.00%	38.72%	34.49%
Perak	24	72.32%	46.47%	46.98%
Pahang	14	76.68%	59.47%	70.45%
Selangor	22	76.88%	44.30%	50.74%
FT KL	11	73.06%	37.95%	34.68%
FT Putrajaya	1	81.42%	75.59%	94.60%
Negeri Sembilan	8	75.94%	54.73%	51.90%
Melaka	6	79.11%	57.42%	57.86%
Johor	26	73.85%	65.27%	53.29%
Total West Malaysia	165	76.95%	49.79%
FT Labuan	1	66.89%	77.04%
Sabah	25	63.97%	61.18%
Sarawak	31	58.16%	64.20%
Total East Malaysia	57	60.96%	62.91%
Total Malaysia	222	74.40%	51.50%

Perak’s deal: DAP 6, PKR 3, PAS 2

From Malaysiakini (Chinese version here) and China Press, finally, the new ruling parties reaches a deal in Perak.

With 18 seats, DAP will take six exco positions including the Deputy MB (Ngeh Koo Ham). They will also hold the positions of speaker and deputy speaker and one of the two state-appointed senator.

With seven seats, Keadilan takes three exco positions including the Indian Deputy MB. They will also the other senatorial post.

With six seats, PAS is given two exco positions including that of the MB.

So, we Perakians may now see the new government moving on.