Snap polls? We're ready, says Nizar
The political temperature in Perak is running high with the signs for snap polls becoming ever more apparent, but the question is whether the ousted Pakatan Rakyat government is ready to win back what it had lost.
The political temperature in Perak is running high with the signs for snap polls becoming ever more apparent, but the question is whether the ousted Pakatan Rakyat government is ready to win back what it had lost.
For evicted menteri besar Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, the snap polls could be a heaven-sent opportunity for the opposition coalition not only to emerge victorious, but also for the result to be so convincing as to make the last General Election’s outcome pale into insignificance.
Speaking to Malaysiakini at his home in Ipoh last Tuesday, Nizar said chances for a snap elections are high, especially reading between the lines of the Federal Court “delaying” its judgment on the rightful menteri besar.
“It is a great shame for the judiciary because no commonwealth court would ever delay judgment on a constitutional crisis which should have received the Bench’s immediate attention in all states,” he said.
He pointed out that just one state still delaying judgement automatically focuses public attention, thus exerting a lot of pressure on the five judges and also the chief justice.
The apex court had last November decided to defer its verdict on the rightful Perak menteri besar to a date yet to be fixed after a marathon of six-hour hearing.
The decision would also ultimately determine the fate of the Perak Pakatan state government, which had been toppled in February last year after three of its elected representatives defected and pledged support for Barisan Nasional.
State manifesto finalised
On a related note, Nizar who is also the PAS Bukit Gantang parliamentarian said that Pakatan is well geared up for the polls now that their state manifesto has been “completely finalised”.
“Our state manifesto was announced during our convention in Perak, the first state ever to have held a convention at that level.
“Secondly, we also adopted the common policy framework of Pakatan’s federal level into the state of Perak. So these two documents are complete,” he said.
To stress his point, Nizar said Pakatan’s state budget 2010 was “more Perak-friendly” than that of the BN’s, which was adopted “in an instant manner of less than 20 minutes”.
“We hope our documents will prevail. With these documents and the work we are doing at the ground level, I think that indicate we are fully prepared for an election.”
Nizar added that the longer the BN delays the budget implementation, the more the time Pakatan had to ready itself for the polls.
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