Sadly, Shahrir Abdul Samad has fallen on his own sword. And the biggest joke is that his mates in the Backbenchers Club (BBC), who had earlier shown great defiance and wanted to reinstall him as their leader, were also reduced to little mice following warnings by Enforcer Nazri Aziz.

At least something good has come out of this whole farce in that Shahrir and the rest of the Umno and BN MPs now know that they are nothing but stooges for their parties. Their job is to rubber stamp all the BN government laws and motions.

They can't vote according to their conscience or to protect the interests of their constituents. If the government wants to open a dump site, even behind his or her house, he or she should approve it.

In a way, the BBC members must have been quite nave from the beginning to think that they were above the Whip or at least on equal standing with him. The Whip is the chief disciplinarian for the ruling party MPs as in a Westminster-style of parliamentary democracy.

As for Nazri, the sooner the BBC is wound up the better because the BBC have always interfered with his work as leader of the House (as in the British House of Commons) or the Majority Leader (as in the American Senate or House of Representatives).

But unlike the much-whipped Umno and BN MPs, the British MPs and American congressman and senators are not so duty-bound to obey their Whips because they became candidates and won elections on their own merits and personalities. In fact, their Whips always have to persuade and cajole and horse-trade with them to gain their support for any legislation.

I have advice for Shahrir if he wants to go down as a great leader and lawmaker. After all, he had had a good life as a minister. Under the present circumstances I don't think he can go any further. I doubt whether he will have a place in a Najib cabinet, a Hishamuddin cabinet or a possible Khairy cabinet.

So he should do something different to show that he is truly with the people. Quit the party, declare himself an independent MP and then operate like an American congressman or senator. Then introduce several amendments to existing unjust and archaic laws.

Also gather support from both sides of the House to introduce several Early Day Motions on current issues or complaints from the people. Come election time, bring up the rigid Whip system to convince the people they should send him back to the Dewan Rakyat to keep an eye on the government.