Rogue MB

I’m kind of sick and tired of the political games being played by PKR in Selangor.

If you want to engineer the removal of the Menteri Besar, the Law already provides for such a thing. Trying to oust him through extra-legal methods is sickening. I can expect such things from PKR, which is a party made up of largely UMNO rejects, but I certainly hope that the DAP and PAS do not support such a move.

The things is that as political parties that purport to support the Rule of Law, you need to show that you are actually capable of using the Law correctly. While the post of a Menteri Besar is a powerful one, it is not absolute. There are checks and balances built into the system.

All that they need to do is to muster enough votes in the State Assembly to pass a vote of no confidence against him. This could come in the form of a money bill, for example. That will show that the MB no longer commands the house.

He will then be forced to either tender the resignation of the entire Exco (including himself) or to call for snap elections.

I for one, think that snap elections is a good opportunity to poll the people for their views. If the people think that you did the right thing in booting out the MB, you will be returned to power without question. However, if you did not do the right thing, then you’re in for some shit.

That’s the sticking point.

I think that PKR knows that they are not doing the right thing and they are fearful of snap polls. I think that if snap polls were to be called for, it is PKR that will suffer the wrath of the voters, and not PAS. Now I know why the UMNO rejects joined PKR.

Even if they kick him out of the party, he would still be the MB as there is no recognition of political parties under the Law. If PR chooses to get the Sultan involved in replacing the MB (ala Perak), they will lose all moral authority in that case as they demonstrate just how low they will stoop to get shit done.

They can choose to do the right thing by simply letting things be.

Yes, they now have a rogue MB in their midst but until he does something that is actually wrong, they do not have any reason to remove him. In fact, most quarters seem to think that he is doing things right.

Personally, I think that he’s doing the right thing by doing the right thing and not consulting with the component parties. I have personally always been against the idea of decision making through consensus. That just encourages irresponsible decision making as nobody is held to account.

With a rogue MB in town, the MB is held to account. If things go wrong, he will have nobody to back him up and nobody else to blame. Therefore, he will have to be held responsible for his actions. Personally, I think that will encourage better behaviour.

Personally, I hope that the MB fights this tooth and nail. While I do not deny that the political parties have a role to play and the MB can be replaced, I fervently hope that they actually use the Law to do it correctly.

No closed-door shenanigans please.

PS: Please stop making unfounded accusations against the MB. If there is a clear back-room deal with regards to his debts, show the public the evidence. Then if snap polls are called, the people will back you. However, the replacement had better be cleaner than Khalid!