Of late, many have jumped on the bandwagon of being a ‘Third Force’ - they do not endorse BN but they are unhappy with Pakatan Rakyat too and they go beyond constructive criticism to suggest that Pakatan be punished at the ballot box if they do not buck up. Strangely, some imply they would rather walk with the known devil (BN) than the unknown angel (Pakatan) and they then group all Pakatan supporters into one single fur ball of blind, slavish and mindless people.

Not all Pakatan supporters are blind or ignorant. Do we need to slam Pakatan equally as hard as BN when even if they sneeze, the BN-controlled mainstream media will whack them while remaining quite silent or evasive on issues regarding BN. In my opinion, we should back Pakatan into federal power, then if they don't perform, whack them or push for a Third Force.

But a Third Force now checking Pakatan will just benefit BN. I can tell you that if BN takes power again after the next general election with a two-thirds majority, it will take a very long time to repeat the March 8, 2008 ‘tsunami’ and as long as BN rules, we can forget about a Third Force.

If they can scuttle Pakatan with 80 MPs in parliament, a puny Third Force will be crushed like a bug before it can even take off. That's what I try to explain when folks say they want to take a Third Force stand. Now this is fine if the media, police, EC, MACC, judiciary etc, are professional and neutral but sadly they are not, it’s not a level playing field to begin with.

As if that is not enough, BN sabotages Pakatan-ruled states by limiting capitation disbursements and this point is entirely lost on some who say that Pakatan rules two resource- rich states namely Penang and Selangor, and echo BN's accusation that they do not know how to rule their own states therefore do not deserve a chance at federal power.

Never mind that Selangor managed to collect some RM300 million in arrears and Penang posting a budget surplus of RM1 billion - a feat not achieved when those states were under BN rule despite comparatively generous federal disbursements.

Reference to the capitation grant can be found in Article 109 of the federal constitution. It is not fixed and can be varied by Parliament which, of course, is under the federal government. Some constitutional experts say that democracy is a check-and-balance and if the federal government squeezes the state too much, they will be punished at the ballot box. But Malaysians are not only a ‘mudah lupa’ lot, many are also vastly ignorant about what falls under the ambit of state and federal.

And now there is a report that Selangor plans to bypass the federal government with a new tax system. This (bypass plan) by collecting ‘zakat’ is dangerous and I am concerned that we have a vindictive federal government that may scuttle those plans and make ‘zakat’ a non-deductible item on the tax schedule and cut capitation grants further to punish Selangor. This is patently unfair as Penang pays RM5 billion and Selangor RM16 billion in federal taxes annually.

Let’s move on to the Selangor government getting private funding. It was reported that Selangor will embark in the next few years on a privately funded stimulus plan. But private companies won't do charity; they would want reasonable guarantees.

Some people are jumping up and down saying, give it, give it, after all you are the state government right ? How naive, let’s look at Article 111 of the constitution

Article 111 (3) reads ‘A state shall not give any guarantee except under the authority of state law, and such guarantee shall not be given except with the approval of the federal government and subject to such conditions as may be specified by it.’

Do I need to point out how the federal government can subvert that plan as well? Never mind, let me spell it out - it means the federal government can arbitrarily refuse approval for such an initiative and even dictate conditions that are so ridiculous as to frustrate the state government.

Many are vastly ignorant about how federalism is so lopsided in Malaysia and they fall for BN rhetoric. In short, the federal government is punishing the people in the opposition-ruled states (including their own supporters who happen to reside there) then say that those state governments are to blame entirely for their suffering.

Capitation grants are but one area and there are many other areas where the federal government has used caveats to make opposition-ruled states look bad. Comparing BN which holds the reins of federal power to Pakatan then chastising Pakatan is like watching a sack race where one man has his legs bound by the sack while another has his legs free.

You cheer on the man whose legs are not bound as he streaks ahead and taunts his opponent.

The man whose feet are bound by the sack and has to comply with the rules of the race cries foul, and his supporters cry foul while the victor and his supporters celebrate unashamed that they did not play fair.

To make matters worse, some supporters of the vanquished also start rebuking the loser telling him not to give excuses for his poor performance. A idiom that is commonly used to indicate fair comparison or analogy is ‘comparing apples with apples’.

Like many things in life, timing is essential and now is not the time for a Third Force. Vote Pakatan into federal power and demand that they repeal unjust laws, institute a fair non-partisan media, abolish acts and ordinances that are unfair, have an independent judiciary and a level playing field.

Then there may just be a chance for a Third Force to flourish to augment democracy by checking both Pakatan and BN.