YOURSAY | ‘Let's revisit some of the recent cases of politicians who betrayed the people's mandate.’
PN could call for snap polls anytime - Azmin
Bobby0: Bring it on, Senior Minister Azmin Ali. If snap polls are held in the near future, it will create the death bed for the Azmin, and now Bersatu, cartel. They will be remembered for the betrayal of their promises and for leapfrogging into the opposition camps.
The winners may be Umno and PAS, leaving the ‘Azmin cartel’ fully destroyed or becoming mosquito parties like MCA and MIC.
Chini was not a victory for PN but actually, it showed that an independent could garner votes without much campaigning. So bring it on, Azmin.
Specialist Batsman: Let's revisit some of the recent cases involving politicians who betrayed the people's mandate and find out where they ended up.
1) Zahrain Hashim
- Elected as the MP for Bayan Baru in 2008 under the PKR ticket.
- Quit PKR in February 2010 and handed over a letter of support to Najib Abdul Razak to rejoin Umno.
- Did not contest in 2013 as he had been appointed Malaysian ambassador to Indonesia. PKR retained Bayan Baru.
2) Tan Tee Beng
- Elected as the MP for Nibong Tebal in Penang in 2008 under the PKR ticket.
- Left PKR in 2010.
- Received 331 votes in 2018 and lost his deposit.
3) N Gobalakrishnan
- Elected as the MP for Padang Serai in Kedah in 2008 under the PKR ticket with a thumping majority of 11,738.
- Left PKR in 2011.
- Received 390 votes in 2013 and lost his deposit.
4) Zulkifli Noordin
- Elected as the MP for Kulim-Bandar Baharu in Kedah in 2008 under the PKR ticket.
- Sacked by PKR in 2010.
- Contested in Shah Alam under the BN ticket in 2013. He lost.
Azmin, bring on the snap polls. I am certain that voters in constituencies from Gombak, Ampang, Indera Mahkota, Segamat to Puncak Borneo are ready for the polls.
Ferdtan: A party-less minister talks. Once the snap election is called, the following will result, based on the assumption that Perikatan Nasional (PN) retains Putrajaya:
1. New prime minister: definitely not Muhyiddin Yassin, that’s for sure. The new prime minister will be from Umno, the largest party in the coalition.
2. Bersatu will be finished, even if they were to do well. Its seat allocation for the election is expected to be much lower than Umno, so they would not be able to win many seats.
Many MPs seeing better opportunity to be in Umno will hop, like frogs do, from Bersatu to Umno.
3. Last but not least, Azmin (Which party? Definitely not Umno, as he will be down in the bottom ranking of importance).
Azmin will never have a chance to be the prime minister that he so covets. Nobody trusts a betrayer - even Umno.
Even if he were to be a minister under the Umno leadership, the best he will get is as foreign minister. At worst – a poetic justice to rejoice – the sports minister.
Newday: Azmin, it appears you wish to ignore the floor of Parliament. It is only there that confidence or otherwise in the government can be determined before any consideration for snap elections.
A vote of confidence promoted by PAS is illogical. A vote of no-confidence is the only real way to test whether you and your non-mandated lot are stable.
Why procrastinate? Just get Parliament reopened and allow the vote. If “no-confidence” is the majority vote, then the Yang di-Pertuan Agong can be advised to dissolve Parliament and call for fresh elections.
If the no-confidence vote is defeated, then your mandate is clear - to govern the full term, simple.
XED: Azmin, please take a look at the Constitution. The Agong acts in his discretion when asked by the prime minister to dissolve Parliament.
The Agong is not required to act on the advice of the prime minister in such a situation and can, therefore, decline to dissolve Parliament.
However, the Agong cannot dissolve Parliament on his own accord. The Agong’s power to dissolve Parliament or to refuse to do so comes into play only when the prime minister requests the Agong to dissolve Parliament.
When Parliament’s five-year term has come to an end, then it would be time for elections.
PurpleHare7539: There is no way Azmin wants a fresh election. He needs the full term to enhance his ‘deputy prime minister’ position so he could go for the prime minister position.
If a fresh election was to be called, his pecking order will drop because there are many Umno leaders who are more senior than him.
There is no way he could claim the deputy prime minister position if there’s a new election.
BlueShark1548: Umno decides when the election will be held, not Bersatu.
Umno would withdraw its support for Muhyiddin and election would be held unless Anwar Ibrahim's PKR supports Muhyiddin. Did Anwar give his assurance of support to Muhyiddin?
Pandamaran Boy: Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Azmin and Muhyiddin were the ones who destroyed Pakatan Harapan from within while dragging the issue of premiership handover to Anwar.
All the ministers from Harapan were newbies and fell for the dragnet set by these three persons.
GE15 will be a new Malaysia, hopefully. DAP, PKR, Amanah, and Warisan should dance to the same tune. Go back to the drawing board, groom new talents.
All Races Matter: Whether there is a general election or a snap election, when your lovers get jilted or cheated, for most normal-minded people, they will never trust you again.
Perhaps Harapan has not achieved much in its 22 months in power. But what about BN?
The rural road I need to use to get to my working place for the last 40 years remains a dirt road. Even the bitumen being dug out from the nearby damaged federal road is not used to upgrade the road.
Fairman: Azmin, the voters in Gombak are waiting for you - to boot you out.
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