Sulking Barisan Nasional

After 13 days of campaigning, March 8, 2008 was supposed to have brought status quo to my country but in a wave of seismic proportions we see 5 states changing hands to the "new government" while the Opposition denied the BN government the magical 2/3 majority. Well, in an oft said cliche, "A political tsunami" I would dwell on my thoughts on how that came about in another topic. Today I would like to dwell on the dark shadows of once powerful BN.

In the aftermath of 8/03, BN has been "trying hard" to "reinvent" to stay "relevant". Note all the words in inverted commas. In actual fact they have not. They are still using their vast machine disguised in various NGOs to sow fear time and again into Malaysian public that without BN chaos would reign. Oh BN.... stop sulking and start working!

You, Mr. PM have formed a new cabinet whom you promised to be leaner and efficient to bring about the desired change, but I still see Mr. 2 Mohd to his name in the list. I see a cheeky person heading the Ministry of Information who is now trying to start on the good side of the bloggers. While you still have Ms. Brickendonburry now heading the Tourism Ministry... err... Is Brickendonburry a precursor to her appointment in Tourism by the way? Well, some positives in Zaid Ibrahim and Amirsham.

I guess that is not the worst thing that you did Mr. PM. Its what transpired in the other states that you lost. Penang, Perak and Selangor whereby your goons organized demonstration which if my memory serves me right were "Not our culture" and the way the Police which the IGP claimed right after the election as "apolitical" were so courteous in not giving your goons a dose of chemically laced water and teargas. That is something "new".

We have also heard how the "diluted" representation of Malays in the new government will be detriment to the Malays. This has been espoused by various "parties" since the election, now you have some NGOs voicing concern that non-Malay Excos in Perak as below:

Malay NGOs worried about non-Malay excos
Azreen Madzlan Mar 24, 08 6:50pm (source: www.Malaysiakini.com)

A group of Perak NGOs are concerned that the rights of the Malays in the state will be compromised in view of the racial composition of the new government’s exco line-up. Yesterday, the 20 NGOs - led by the Young Malay Professionals (Prowaris) - stated that the 6-3-1 formula between PKR, DAP and PAS is not reflective of the state’s population.

Of the 59 state seats, DAP controls 18 while PKR has seven and PAS six, bringing the total to 31. Barisan Nasional controls the remaining 28. Contacted today, Prowaris president Feriz Omar said the state exco must be a racial representation of the state. With regards to the population of Malays, who form the majority in Perak, he said the state should have more Malay excos.

He also commented on the new Selangor exco line-up, saying that although Selangor has five non-Malay excos, it is still more democratic compared to Perak. Selangor has four state excos from DAP, three from PAS and four from PKR. Feriz, who described Prowaris as a non-partisan Malay NGO, said the organisation will support any state leader who supports the continuity of the Malay agenda irregardless of which party the leader comes from.

"Although (PKR de facto leader) Anwar (Ibrahim) has criticised the New Economic Policy (NEP), we can't deny that Anwar, in his arguments, still has some ideas and support for the Malay Agenda, indirectly,"he said.

Perak Prowaris, representing the 20 NGOs, has also submitted a memorandum to Sultan Azlan Shah of Perak to protest against the state exco's racial composition. "We have received good support from the palace, and we will work closely with Istana Perak in the future" said. Feriz.
'There will be conflict'

Meanwhile, Perak Gabungan Pelajar Melayu Semenanjung (GPMS) president Zainal Abidin Mohd Nor said it is only appropriate that a Malay majority state be represented by Malay state excos. "Even in the previous BN cabinet, we had three MCA representatives and one from MIC. But here in Perak, we are going to have almost seven non-Malay state excos. But then again, this is what they call democracy," he said when contacted.

Zainal Abidin added, even though the new Perak MB, Mohammad Nizar Jamaludin, is a Malay, there will be conflict in the state exco when the MB makes a decision over something that will affect the Malays. "The majority non-Malay state excos might not agree with him (Nizar) if he wants to implement something for the Malays. They (non-Malay excos) will override his decision," he said. However, Mohammad Nizar has dismissed this fear and pledged to continue with the 6-3-1 formula.

I fail to understand this line of argument really. But one thing is for sure, while the whole country is persumably on the road to non racial line political party, there is one party that is still hell bent on ensuring the nation is divided along racial lines and will stop at nothing to ensure that the nation stay divided while they plunder. That is BN and when they sulk, they try to raise the ire of 50% of the population but I am sure within the 50% many are not in agreement with what BN is doing right now.

Malaysian Joe says, "BN stop sulking and start working for a better Malaysia."