Malaysian politics is heated-up and matter are escalating even until now. It all started when Najib Abdul Razak was openly declared as the successor of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi both as the president of Umno and as the prime minister of Malaysia.

Najib, started off with a few unsubstantiated and vague accusations. To convince his ex-boss and the Umno members in general, he started off with the Perak legislative assembly where he decided to switch opposition rule to BN rule.

The opposition held 31 seats and the BN held 28 seats. Just a matter of a three-seat difference. Najib launched a coup at the Perak legislative assembly early this year by convincing three assembly persons of Pakatan Rakyat to leave the opposition and support BN which they agreed to.

Many cried foul over Najib's action. Najib, in defence of his action, stated that it was Anwar Ibrahim who started this sort of coup. He said ‘It was not highly publicised as his (Anwar's) attempts failed'.

It is true what Najib says. Ever since the March 2008 elections, Anwar has repeatedly said that his opposition coalition would take over the federal government. He gave a few dates for such an event but they did not materialise. The point is that an attempt is equal to committing the task, whether successful or not.

However, two of the opposition assembly persons who quit PKR and declared their support for BN are currently facing corruption charges. It would be futile for BN if both are found guilty. However, BN will still have 29 Adun, one more than that of PKR.

The state assembly session held on May 7 was full of drama from both sides. First of all, was it necessary to have assembly when the court has yet to decide who is the legitimate menteri besar of Perak ie, Zambry Abdul Kadir or Mohd Nizar Jamluddin?

Wouldn't it better to have the assembly after confirming the menteri besar? The ‘state assembly' conducted under a tree by Pakatan Adun was actually a disgrace to Malaysia. It looked as though that it was held in one of the very poor nations of the world.

Let us go back the May 7 Perak state assembly. It really put Malaysia into shame. It looked as though the supporters of the two opposite teams were involved in a fracas. It was purely a political ploy used by both the opposing parties.

As for the supporters and sympathisers who got arrested (and released later) I extend my sympathies if they were not within a 500 metre radius of the state secretariat building.

What do we learn from this? Respect and be respected and while you protect your rights, do not forget about the rights of others.

Practice diplomacy and positive gestures to win over not only your party supporters but also that of the opposition. The opposition need not mean Pakatan as in some states, BN is the opposition.