Bloggers from both sides of the political divide have stepped up to condemn the flood of by-elections in recent months.

Many of them agreed that the political ‘sandiwara’ is diverting the attention of politicians from the economy and pressing daily concerns of the people.

The storm of criticism was triggered by the pending by-election in Penanti prompted by the resignation of its state assemblyperson Mohd Fairus Khairuddin.

This will be the sixth by-election since the last general election on March 8 last year.

Jailani Hassan commented that the people do not want to see more wastage of public funds on by-elections campaigns.

He also suggested that the Election Commission enforce rules to prevent legislators from relinquishing their positions according to their whims and fancies.

penang land scam 290708 fairuz Another blogger, Syed Imran , remarked that PKR leaders have no reason to delay the selection of Fairus’ successor when there are only two candidates.

He added that it was not necessary for Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng to wait for Anwar Ibrahim’s instructions on the matter because historically, negotiations relating to the position of the Penang DCM are initiated by the CM.

Political analyst Khoo Kay Peng too, agre ed that Lim should exercise his prerogative in appointing a PKR leader to replace Fairus.

In addition, he urged Pakatan Rakyat to unveil its own investigations into Fairus’ alleged abuse of power. He also noted that the opposition alliance must solve their internal conflicts quickly or risk being undifferentiated from BN.

Blatant disregard

Meanwhile, Fairus’ decision to resign was slammed by blogger popular known as ‘ Big Dog’ .

He denounced Fairus’ resignation, along with that of Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, V Arumugam as well as Elizabeth Wong’s threat to resign all showed Pakatan’s blatant disregard for the people’s wish to have credible and stable governance.

Apart from the mainstream bloggers, two new blogs dedicated to the Fairus debacle have also been spawned.

YB Mohd Fairus , a pro-Fairus blog, has compiled articles surrounding his resignation by Malaysiakini, Star Online and Malaysian Insider , as well as photos of him paying fishermen, the administrators of a religious school and other local folk a visit.

Alahai Fairus Bekas TKM Penang labelled Fairus as a traitor to Anwar Ibrahim and welcomed his resignation.

Its latest blog post also questioned Fairus’ whereabouts when Penanti was hit by floods.

As for Fairus’ personal blog , it was last updated on March 15, showing him attending a Penang PKR dinner held at the Equatorial Hotel on the same day.

The dinner, also graced by PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim, was held to raise funds for the Penang administration as well as celebrate PKR’s victories in the 12 th general election.