Changing of House Speaker is a red herring

Extracts from Malaysiakini:

Anwar was confident that Harapan, Warisan and Mahathir's bloc will put up a united front on the issue of the Dewan Rakyat motion to remove Speaker Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof and Deputy Speaker Nga Kor Ming.

The motion, which is expected to be tabled tomorrow, will have Ariff and Nga (above) replaced with former Election Commission chairperson Azhar Azizan Harun and Pengerang MP Azalina Othman Said respectively.

Anwar said both blocs have solidly decided to vote against this motion, but he appealed other MPs to join them in retaining the current speaker and deputy speaker as well.

“This is a matter of principles and rule of law, this has never happened in Commonwealth history as well as our country’s history before.

“An appointment is only made when there is a vacancy or a speaker resigns.

“In our case, the performance of Ariff has been commendable in terms of reforms. There’s absolutely no basis to attempt to change mid-course.

“Therefore, I am appealing to MPs - other than Harapan which is solid and the opposition which has given the commitment to stand firm - to consider this to protect the sanctity of Parliament and also of national importance to support the existing speaker Ariff and deputy speaker Nga,” he said.

The motion to remove the speaker and deputy speaker was submitted by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

Personally speaking, wakakaka, kaytee believes the change the House Speaker and Deputy are NOT the real aim, but there is a dire need for the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government to relocate or re-role Azhar Azizan Harun (popularly known as Art Harun) from his post of Election Commission (EC) chairman.

It would not do for the PN government to sack Art from the EC position as it's NOT sack-able - only HM the Agong has the sole prerogative to remove Art from the EC Chairman's post - of course there is the argument that the House can recommend to HM the desirability of removing a renegade EC Chairman, but it'll still come back to HM.

Be that as it may be, the PN government (not just Muhyiddin) wants to project an air of respectability in removing Art from the EC Chairman's post with the excuse he's required for the House Speaker role.

The EC Chairman's position has been and will still be most crucial to the PN coalition in GE15, for example: UMNO-dominated Putrajaya has to continue to be one federal constituency with approximately 20,000 voters whilst Chinese-dominated Damansara (the old Petaling Jaya Utara plus plus) will continue to be sardine-ised as one federal constituency with 165,000 voters.

In other words, an UMNO voter in Putrajaya has 8 times a say in Parliament compared to a DAP (PH) voter in Damansara.

Thus, following PH's victory in GE14, it was an opportunity for reforming (among many institutions) the EC and its culture of obscene gerrymandering and sinister manipulation of voters. T'was not only gerrymandering per se but also disinformation to senior or illiterate voters by unjustified change of polling station locations or even the name title of the constituency itself, eg. Petaling Jaya Utara to Damansara

Everyone (both sides of the political fence) knows how the EC has been the most corrupt public institution in Malaysia, corrupt not in terms of financial or property gains but in gerrymandering to ensure UMNO (BN) continues to rule as the government of Malaysia and various questionable play.

One of Mahathir's closest ally, and a man who followed him into Perkasa and PPBM (vice-president of PRIBUMI) has been Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman.

Abdul Rashid was EC Commissioner from 2000 to 2008 with his notorious "achievements" for UMNO, who led the EC in managing six out of the 13 general elections, as well as four redelineation exercises. He could be called Bapak Gerrymandering, wakakaka.

Abdul Rashid boasted that when he was EC chairman he made sure past redelineation exercises were designed to keep certain parties in power, meaning UMNO (under Mahathir) and its cronies.

In 2007, Malaysiakini published EC chief: No other regime capable of running the country where it states:

Election Commission (EC) chairperson Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman let slip today his views on which ‘regime’ he regards as being capable of running the country, and said those who disagree with him do not realise the ‘critical’ situation the country is in.

“A lot of people are anxious to determine the type of regime that is going to handle Malaysia in the coming years. They are always talking about regimes. I never talk about regimes. There is only one regime in this country that is capable of running (the country),” he said.

“People get angry with me whenever I say this (but) people don’t seem to understand the critical scenario in the country. What is it that can (take) over from the present one given the political scenario we are in?” he asked.

Thus, with a PH government in place after May 2018,  the appointment of Art was greeted with joy as most PH supporters have been of the view he would implement desired and long overdue reforms. T'was reported Art "was even studying an anti-party-hopping law, a move that would have discouraged party hopping, which violates the people’s mandate."

Of course, no one ever effs around with then-PM Mahathir who (a nudge and a wink) appointed the same old Ab Rashid Ab Rahman to lead Putrajaya's then-newly formed Electoral Reform Committee, wakakaka. That was akin to putting Tuan Musang sebagai penjaga reban ayam.

His appointment comes as a surprise as the Bersatu vice-president was frequently criticised by DAP and PKR - which are now part of the ruling coalition - during his tenure as EC chief between November 2000 and December 2008. But DAP dared not say a word - KHAT-aSS sure STFU.

Nonetheless, it was good to have Art there as EC Chairman. but alas, Azhar resigned before he could institute the much needed reforms.

Many have been left wondering why Azhar had decided to resign, especially in a crucial stage of the nation’s history. We have lost a great opportunity for electoral reforms.

Thus, I believe the replacement of the House Speaker is a red herring. He may look important now when the numbers in the House are marginal, but after GE15 (and EC has enormous influence on the GE), the House Speaker won't be as important as now when a BN government may be returned with even a 2/3 majority.