Perak is undergoing a seizure, with twists and turns and somersaults. The Silver State has lost its silver lining; and is now the laughing stock of the world: two menteri besar, one sitting tightly in the MB's official residence but vacated it on advice from the state secretary; and the other, newly-minted and newly-anointed, is cooling his heels in a hotel.

With the former MB taking his family to a private house, the new MB is moving into the official residence. Will it be leasehold or freehold title to the residence? The case has gone to court; and Umno has quickly despatched a lawyer to London to seek legal wisdom from a Queen’s Counsel on the Perak constitution.

Why go that far when we have all the while spurned English barristers and have always proudly uttered that our lawyers are competent enough to handle cases? Remember when the QC Cherie Booth (Tony Blair's spouse) came here and was told off: ‘We have competent lawyers and do not need your services’! What a joke now.

Umno should go to America and seek the services of Barack Obama, the lawyer from Harvard University, the most prestigious university in the world. Tell him to put aside his stimulus bill of US$787 billion and come here to defend Umno in the courts. And our finance minister could tell him that we need no stimulus bill because our economy is very strong ‘fundamentally’and he could give a lesson on economics in exchange for his legal advice. This barter trade serves both sides equitably.

We could also show our lust for power; and our power for lust. We need not go to the people; and run like mad in the primary elections as in US. Our transfer of power can be made in Putrajaya or in Kuala Kangsar (like Barrack shoes made in England).

Teach President Obama how we can seize power by the back-door. Mugabe-style in Zimbabwe or junta-style in Burma. Opposition leader wins election; lock her up. Or make her disappear. So simple.

But the situation in Perak is not so simple. Voters are getting wiser and wiser by the day; and angrier, too. Now, the Perak administration is in limbo: two MBs and two administrations. Now Nizar will be operating from the PKR Office while the new one will be at the secretariat! But who has the power, Nizar or Zambry?

To give another twist, the Perak speaker, after holding a Rights and Privileges Committee Meeting, had suspended the in-coming MB eighteen months and the six exco members twelve months. With their suspension, will they be allowed to enter the state assembly?

They were advised by the PM to ‘defy the ban’. Now, will the sergeant-at-arms (security guards) bar them from entering the building? Will the guards obey the order by the speaker? Or,will they also defy the speaker's order?

Then, there are the three ‘monkeys’ who jumped ship and are now in unchartered waters. They are said to be independents and have lifeboats to ply to the BN ship. But they had resigned their seats through pre-signed letter; and hence their seats are vacant.

‘Duress’ they claimed. But were they supposed to honour their pledges to the parties under whose banners they stood the elections? Where is their morality, since we talk so much about ‘morals’ and ‘morality’? Did they win because they were so powerful and so well-known?

Or did they win because of their parties and the tireless efforts of supporters and leaders ?Now, will they also be barred from entering the chambers of the assembly? Will the guards stop them? Or will they say masuk, masuk, masuk ?

If all the suspended and resigned members barge in, will there be a chaotic scene of fisticuffs like in Taiwan’s assembly ?

It looks like the impasse is just like a circus, with clowns prancing about in the streets. And where do the voters stand in this display of comedy? Do they have a voice? Or have they lost their tongues and are speechless in seeing this bizarre scenario?

This lust for power so that the power for lust could be harvested in due course should be roundly condemned by right-thinking people. Let the voice of the voters be heard again. Let them decide which party they want to rule over them. If it is BN, so be it. If it is PR, so be it.

Let play a gentleman's game and not hit below the belt. Bringing in the compliant police or MACC or attorney-general will make a mockery of our democratic system and we will be taking the road to Burma or Zimbabwe.

This road is filled with potholes and our leaders cannot afford to put the nation in jeopardy, especially in this dire hour of recession and depression; and jobs are falling like ten-pins. The economy is in deep trouble everywhere and leaders should not endanger our economy and tourism.

We should stop all this nonsense and get on with our economy plan as President Obama did and is still doing. So are many government leaders and business leaders around the world. This is the wrong time and place to be pea-minded and play political marbles. Be serious.

Get on with the business of governing the country; let us not play with fire and get burnt by fire, burning the whole house down. We do not need ashes to mourn over.