Political pasembur 1

Tonight I’ll just chuck in a few political snippets ;-)

Malaysiakini - MB vs MB: Judgment tomorrow

Whatever the outcome, I suspect BN will be hoping to minimise its damage. I believe BN has finally come to its senses, especially now that Najib has made his mark as a can-do UMNO leader in upstaging wannabe froggie king as well as assumed the UMNO presidency.

The BN would have assessed that it’s time to rid itself of the poison chalice that is Perak, as I had alluded to in Perak's poisonous stalemate will hurt BN more than PR.

But it doesn’t want to lose face nor does it want Pakatan to be in a position to ask HRH to dissolve the House, because a re-election will see the BN or rather UMNO* humiliated even further.

* And the perversity of the political situation is that Gerakan or MCA or MIC has nothing (absolutely zilch wakakaka) to lose and everything to gain in a Perak re-election, yet the only one among these three BN juniors who's clueless about its own lack of appeal to the voters and indeed thick skinned enough to want a re-election is probably MIC ;-).

Both MCA and Gerakan want time to re-group after the March 2008 Hirshima-ic devastation and for the vital ingredient of the Malay's mudah-lupa to spread like H1N1 to the Chinese wakakaka, which of course also requires time.

I suspect BN will try its utmost to manipulate the situation into by-elections in the three froggie seats, allowing PKR will win back two while DAP will bring about the largest landslide in Perak election history in Jelapang wakakaka.

This way, BN maintains the status quo without suffering further losses, and at the same time divests itself of the poison chalice.



For blooming years PSM had tried to get itself registered but in vain until very recently (incidentally this means PKR is now minus 1 parliamentary seat once Dr Jeya asserts himself as a PSM MP rather than one from Anwar Ibrahim’s party). And we know how the government feels about Hindraf. No, the two statements are not non sequitur.

If one dislikes or fears Hindraf, would one approve a party called Makkal Sakthi? Most unlikely, considering how PSM had fared for years and years.

In fact M Kathirveloo, a close associate of Hindraf leader P Uthayakumar, revealed to us that ROS (Registrar of Societies) rejected his application to register the Indian Rights Action Front (IRAF), because, according to ROS, IRAF was suspected of having a name similar to the outlawed Hindraf.

Kathiravelo also reminded us that the government had been hostile towards Hindraf leaders, so eyes rolled when ROS approved the Makkal Sakthi Party, and with such amazing alacrity too!

Just to remind you, last month I blogged on Waynamoorthy worried Thanenthiran taking Hindraf into BN?

Maybe Thanenthiran is one who believes there’s more than one way to skin a Tamil Tiger wakakaka!

The Malaysian Insider - Gerakan and MCA split over Tsu Koon

Not surprisingly, the MCA is pissed off with Najib's apppointment of UMNO’s blue-eyed boy as the BN head in Penang.

The Malaysian Insider commented: When BN won Penang in the 1999 general elections, MCA dominated the state assembly following defections from Gerakan but instead of appointing a leader from MCA as the chief minister, then BN chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad gave the post to Koh causing widespread discontent among the party’s leaders and supporters.

And that fact that Najib has once again made Koh the BN head there has sparked fresh accusations that the Umno president is not sensitive towards the sentiment on the ground.

We can make intelligent guess as to the many reasons for Koh’s appointment, chief among which would be Koh’s obsequious compliance to UMNO's dictates. As Penangites would say: Gau t’niah uah (very obedient). There's of course the usual UMNO’s strategic aim to keep a check on MCA through Gerakan – the old orang putih’s ‘divide and conquer’.

But expect MCA to sabotage Koh and Gerakan, and UMNO to protect Koh ;-)

Malaysiakini - Anwar's sacking: Apex court fixes July 30 for hearing which reported (extracts only):

The Federal Court has set July 30 to hear Anwar Ibrahim's bid to challenge the legality of his dismissal as deputy premier and finance minister in 1998. […]

The apex court on June 16 last year had granted leave to Anwar to appeal against a High Court's ruling that his dismissal as deputy prime minister and finance minister was lawfully executed by Mahathir. […]

The High Court had on Dec 23, 1998, struck out Anwar’s civil action for an order that his dismissal from the cabinet on Sept 2, 1998, was unlawful.

What does kaytee think?

I want Anwar to win ;-) Really I do!

Wakakaka!