The need to maintain separation of powers

Yesterday, the Istana Negara issued a statement saying that the Yang diPertuan Agong has issued another decree, advising all MPs to support the soon to be tabled 2021 Budget.

I was a bit amused as to why the king needed to repeat that again.

I actually believe it was because he was not confident about all that talks of stopping the fight.

And I also think that the king agrees with me that all that talks of "political ceasefire" was actually just an

• Umno's brilliant bluff

For some reasons that I could not think of, the statement issued by Istana Negara made it as if the  king was going out of his way in trying to save Muhyiddin's administration on this one.

And I do wonder why he didn't speaks directly about it as the statement was issued quoting the Royal Comptroller saying the king said this and that.

Hmmmmm....

Anyone who has been following this blog for a long time would notice that I quite like Sultan Abdullah, especially because of his hands on approach.

But he doesn't seems to be like that on this matter.

Well, maybe it's because of the protocol of Istana Negara.

Maybe.

Still, someone brought to my attention this morning that the king who is part of the executive shouldn't be interfering or in this case "advising" the parliament, which is the legislature on what it should or shouldn't do.

Doing so would infringe the separation of powers doctrine which is the pillar of our democracy. 

Under a democratic system, there must be a check and balance between the executive, legislature and judiciary. One of them shouldn't be let to dominate the others....like how it is in North Korea or communist-ruled China. 

My opinion on this matter is about the same as the following statement by Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Abdul Karim yesterday, 

Pekara: Hormati Kebebasan Ahli Parlimen Menentukan Pendirian Dan Membuat Keputusan 

1.Belanjawan Negara Tahun 2021 yang akan dibentangkan oleh Kerajaan pada 6hb November di Dewan Rakyat adalah dalam bentuk Rang Undang-Undang Perbekalan di bawah Perkara 100 Perlembagaan Persekutuan. 

2.Parlimen adalah badan legislatif iaitu sebuah institusi perundangan yang tugasnya menggubal undang-undang. Manakala ahli-ahli parlimen adalah penggubal undang-undang atau (laws maker). 

3.Negara kita Malaysia sebuah negara demokrasi berparlimen yang mengguna pakai prinsip pengasingan kuasa (separation of powers).Semua pihak dan institusi perlu menghormati parlimen dengan menyediakan suatu keadaan yang kondusif bagi membolehkan ahli-ahli parlimen bebas menentukan pendirian dan membuat keputusan. 

 4.Dalam hal ehwal kewangan negara, peranan parlimen amat besar.Perkara 96 Perlembagaan Persekutuan menyebut bahawa tiada percukaian melainkan jika dibenarkan oleh undang-undang. Manakala Perkara 102 pula menyatakan bahawa Parlimen mempunyai kuasa berkenaan dengan mana-mana tahun kewangan.  

5.Hal-hal berkenaan rang undang-undang melibatkan kewangan negara adalah dalam bidang kuasa parlimen. Tidak ada sesiapa boleh mengarah, mendesak,memujuk atau memaksa ahli-ahli parlimen supaya menyokong dan meluluskan sesuatu rang undang-undang belanjawan negara termasuklah Belanjawan Tahun 2021 yang akan dibentangkan pada 6hb November nanti. 

6.Peranan Parlimen sebagai badan semak dan imbang perlu difahami dan dihormati. Rang undang-undang belanjawan tahun 2021 seperti belanjawan sebelum ini perlu melalui proses penggubalan undang -undang yang diperuntukkan di bawah Perlembagaan Persekutuan dan undang-undang berkaitan kewangan yang sedia ada.Rang undang-undang belanjawan 2021 perlu dibahaskan di peringkat dasar dan jawatankuasa.Proses pengundian juga perlu dilakukan di peringkat dasar dan juga peringkat jawatankuasa.Tidak ada proses fast track ataupun jalan pintas.Duit beratus bilion ringgit dalam belanjawan negara 2021 itu adalah duit pembayar cukai dan duit hasil negara milik rakyat dan milik negara. 

7.Ahli-ahli parlimen yang mengangkat sumpah telah berikrar untuk mempertahankan Perlembagaan Persekutuan yang membawa maksud menjaga kepentingan rakyat dan negara.Ahli-ahli parlimen sama ada ahli Dewan Rakyat dan Dewan Negara berada di Parlimen atas kelayakannya menjadi ahli Parlimen di bawah Perkara 47 Perlembagaan Persekutuan.Justeru itu kepercayaan wajar diberi kepada mereka untuk menimbang mana yang baik dan mana yang merosakkan negara. 

8.Sebagai seorang ahli parlimen yang dipilih oleh rakyat, saya amat gusar dan bimbang dengan suatu kenyataan Istana negara bertarikh 28 Oktober 2020 yang dikeluarkan oleh Dato’ Indera Ahmad Fadil Shamsudin, Datuk Pengelola Bijaya Diraja yang menyebut, antara lain, bahawa Yang di-Pertuan Agong menasihati Ahli-ahli Dewan Rakyat untuk memberi sokongan padu kepada Belanjawan 2021. 

 9. Saya beranggapan kenyataan Datuk Pengelola Bijaya Diraja itu sebagai satu pelanggaran terhadap prinsip raja berperlembagaan dalam sebuah negara yang mengamalkan demokrasi berparlimen.Saya ingin menegaskan ahli-ahli parlimen mestilah bebas untuk membuat keputusan di dalam sidang parlimen termasuk sidang berkenaan Belanjawan 2021 tanpa ada sebarang tekanan atau pengaruh sesiapa (undue influence).

Well, I think it's best for us to defend our constitution and democratic system.

I do know that many of you all are fed up with the politicians these days but if we start to go down that slope, we may find it too slippery to climb up again.

Once we lose our democracy, we may never get it back.

Umno's brilliant bluff

So, this is Umno's current official stand, 

KENYATAAN MEDIA 

Majlis Kerja Tertinggi UMNO yang bermesyuarat pada hari ini, 26 Oktober 2020 (Isnin) telah memutuskan perkara-perkara berikut: 

1. Menjunjung kasih di atas keputusan Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Yang di-Pertuan Agong menolak permohonan yang dipersembahkan oleh Perdana Menteri bagi maksud pelaksanaan Darurat Perkara 150(1) dan Pemasyhuran Ordinan Darurat (Kuasa-Kuasa Perlu 2020) menurut Perkara 150(2B) Perlembagaan Persekutuan. Bagi UMNO, keputusan yang turut diperbincangkan dengan Majlis Raja-Raja tersebut adalah amat bijaksana dan cukup melegakan rakyat. 

2. Mendokong sepenuhnya titah dan saranan Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Yang di-Pertuan Agong dan Majlis Raja-Raja agar dikendurkan segala ketegangan politik dengan melakukan gencatan politik bagi memastikan kestabilan politik negara dapat terus dipertahankan. 

3. Menyarankan agar inisiatif Rekonsiliasi Nasional atau Agenda Perdamaian Nasional segera dilaksanakan dengan menggembleng penyertaan semua parti politik yang bernaung dalam Kerajaan Perikatan Nasional dan juga parti-parti pembangkang. 

 4. Mencadangkan supaya Kerajaan mengambil pendekatan yang lebih inklusif melangkaui perbezaan ideologi parti dalam menangani pandemik Covid-19 dan kesan negatif ekonomi yang dihadapi rakyat yang sedang susah dan gelisah. 

 5. Majlis Kerja Tertinggi UMNO mengekalkan keputusan terdahulu tanpa kerjasama PKR dan DAP. Ahli-ahli Parlimen UMNO akan terus mendokong Kerajaan Perikatan Nasional. UMNO menggesa ditambah baik prinsip kerjasama yang harus berpaksikan nilai penghormatan dan political consensus. 

 6. Memastikan ketetapan Perhimpunan Agung UMNO untuk memperkasakan Muafakat Nasional dapat terus direalisasikan. 

 AHMAD ZAHID HAMIDI

Basically,

1.Thanked Agong and his Rulers gang for rejecting Muhyiddin's emergency move.

2. To continue its "political ceasefire".

3. To continue its "political ceasefire".

4. To continue its "political ceasefire".

5. To continue its support for Perikatan in return for "better treatment".

6. To stick with Pas.

Well, this is actually nothing new.

It's the same thing that Umno said  before the Muhyiddin's "emergency move".

Quite anti-climax, actually.

I was actually expecting Zahid to say Umno will work with DAP  to set up a new government as it promised to flush out Guan Eng and his irritating gang.

Sigh.

That would be much nicer.

Still, I honestly don't really believe in this Umno's official stand.

Obviously, Muhyiddin and his gang didn't believe it too that Umno will not try to pull a fast one on them.

They think the Umno's ceasefire was bullshit and that's why they make that unfortunate "emergency move". 

I strongly believe they still think the same this time.

They still think Zahid and the Umno gang were just bluffing and will side with Anwar when it comes to voting in parliament.

Actually, even more so now after their failed attempt to stab Umno in the back using the "emergency move".

And I think they are right.

I still think the fight is still on.

I think Umno is just putting up a nice front with the ceasefire and reconciliation stuff.

Now people will have to say that Umno wants peace, work with everyone to overcome Covid-19, forgive Muhyiddin's emergency move betrayal, etc.

In actual fact, it's a brilliant political move.

Umno can get what it wants now without being the bad guy.

If Muhyiddin doesn't give in to it, Umno can sides with Anwar without looking bad.

After all, it doesn't have to be the whole block of Umno to vote against Muhyiddin in parliament.

Just a few of them siding with Anwar would do the trick.

If that happens, Umno can always say, we stick with our official stand but we can't control those few who sided with Anwar.

Then it joins the new government.

But working with mortal enemy DAP?

Eh, we already said we want peace for the good of the people to fight this Covid-19 pandemic, okay.

And DAP is now led by that nice Anthony Loke guy. Guan Eng is going to jail for corruption, what. And they will get rid of the other irritating bastards such as Tony Puaka soon.

So, Umno becomes the good guy and wins.

Nice, right?

But seriously, I think I'm right on this one.

I was right in my last post, okay.

Hahaha....I really really wish Umno and DAP could be friends.

Then I can have nice chats about politics with my DAP supporting mother and beloved.

And Malaysia could be a better and more peaceful country.

Okay, I need to get up and go to work now

Cheers.

Between emergency and democracy

Everyone went gaga yesterday over what was said to be an emergency about to be declared by the Perikatan government.

I even got an inquiry about it from Japan.

Well, Muhyiddin went to Kuantan to meet the Agong after a special Cabinet meeting, causing everyone to believe that he was trying to get the king's consent to declare the emergency.

However, in the end, nothing happened....yet so far.

I did some checking and as far as my sources are concerned, the emergency move was real.

The pretext is Covid-19, but as everyone suspected, the real reason is to prevent a no confidence motion from being tabled against Muhyiddin in parliament.

That could also happen indirectly via the voting to pass next year's budget, scheduled before end of next month.

If the budget doesn't go through, that's as good as a no confidence vote against Muhyiddin.

According to my sources, the main characters behind this emergency idea are Muhyiddin himself,  Azmin, Hamzah Zainuddin, Ismail Sabri, and that flying car minister, whose name I can't remember.

As for the meeting with the Agong, it was said that the king wanted to discuss the matter first with the other Rulers before giving his consent for the requested emergency be declared.

If this is true, then I suspect the Agong is not 100 per cent supportive of the idea for Malaysia being put under an emergency rule.

Otherwise, he would have just agreed to it.

For that, I salute the Agong.

I'm also against this emergency move because it's against our democracy and may worsen the country's economy which is already battered by Covid-19.

The Perikatan government shouldn't run for emergency cover whether in handling Covid-19 or the challenge from the opposition.

Even the Agong had previously said that all quarters must abide by the Constitution.

True, there's currently a spike in Covid-19 cases but we have been handling it well so far and I can't see why the need for the state of emergency, if that's the real reason to have it.

If the real reason is Anwar to challenge Muhyiddin in parliament, then stand up to it and just count the seats.

Prove to the world that the government has the mandate to rule.

That should shut up Anwar and the gang.

There's the Umno ceasefire, what?

Surely Muhyiddin could get enough support.

Unless, if Zahid had actually just been bluffing about the ceasefire the other day.

Well, if that's the case, Muhyiddin should talk with Zahid and the Umno gang again.

And this time, talk nicely to them.

But if Muhyiddin still wants to go the emergency route, then he should bear in mind that his government will become even more unpopular.

He would be just buying time if he does that as come GE15, the people will punish him and his gang.

Unless, of course the state of emergency be prolonged beyond the GE15 deadline or till forever.

Then we can be like North Korea.

Hey, anything could happen, okay.

Umno vs Pribumi Bersatu, the story so far

When Zahid yesterday declared a "political ceasefire", the first thing that came to my mind was that it was directed at Pribumi Bersatu.

Definitely not at DAP, PKR and their allies.

The real struggle for power now is between Umno and Pribumi Bersatu.

Anwar, Dr Mahathir and the others are just supporting characters.

At the moment, Umno has the upper hand.

The only reason they didn't go for the kill yet was because of the Covid-19 crisis.

Or, Muhyiddin had offered them something.

But one thing is for sure, Pribumi Bersatu has now realised that it can't bully Umno in Perikatan Nasional anymore.

Even Pas realised this, thus the agreement to formalise Muafakat Nasional the other day.

My bet is that those two will go on their own along with the Umno's BN allies in GE15.

A united Malay Muslim front supported by parties representing the minorities and those in Sarawak.

Basically the old BN with the inclusion of Pas. 

It's better that way as I previously wrote.

Anyway, Muhyiddin apparently has managed to buy some time but he and his people need to find their own ways too from now.

They would probably be absorbed back into Umno or melt into the other parties even before GE15.

Doesn't matter.

If the whole thing goes that way, Anwar, Dr Mahathir and the other old men of Malaysian politics would also become irrelevant, which in a way is good.

No more the usual baggage.

Personally, I hope Umno will keep its cool till GE15.

It has sent its message that day, and that should be enough for now.

As for the opposition, I hope PKR, DAP and the others could survive the remainder of the Muhyiddin's administration.

We will still need a good opposition no matter what happen because this country is a democracy.

Please help the Bajau Laut people

UPDATES at 12.31pm

Apparently, NST has picked up on this story just now. Alhamdulillah.

More holistic approach needed to address Covid-19 among Semporna islanders

ORIGINAL POST 

My beloved forwarded me this yesterday and asked me to highlight it,

My beloved is really concerned about the plight of those Bajau Laut people but felt helpless for not being able to do much.

I wish I could do more to help them myself.

Since we can't do much, I hope those who are really in the position to do something could help them.

I know, there are many others who are in need of help too amidst this Covid-19 crisis but these unfortunate people seemed to be in more need of help than others.

For those who may later help the Bajau Laut people, may Allah bless and reward you. Thank you.

Counting chairs got nothing to do with Covid-19

Apparently, Umno is now divided over whether it should continue to support or abandon Perikatan.

Hishammuddin and KJ, who are Perikatan ministers, have came out with very strong statements that they will not support their party leaders if Umno decides to stop supporting the coalition.

Well, I guess, if Umno really do so, then that duo would be among those who will leave the party.

Maybe they will join Pribumi Bersatu, and continue to be ministers.

Not really a bad thing, actually. Many former Umno leaders had done so, particularly after Umno and its allies lost in GE14.

Of course, they will do well....provided Perikatan remains in power lah.

After all, I have a feeling that it would be the end of Pribumi Bersatu if the party could not keep its grip on Putrajaya.

It actually doesn't have much except Dr Mahathir, when the handsome old man was still with the party.

Really, it doesn't even have proper grassroots machinery.

GE14, in my opinion, was won by the then popularity of Dr Mahathir as well as resources and hardwork of DAP's machinery.

For GE15, I believe Pribumi Bersatu will want to rely mostly on Umno's machinery to win their seats.

And the irony is that, those seats that Pribumi Bersatu will want to contest are Umno's traditional seats.

Something like what happened in Sabah the other day.

They would not kacau Pas as they know that party would not give them face. And they definitely couldn't contest at mix constituency, let alone non-Malay majority areas as they would be massacred there.

On top of that, those MPs and assemblymen who won their seats as Umno candidates but then jumped to Pribumi Bersatu after GE14 would like very much for Umno people in their area to again work for them so that they can continue to be Yang Berhormat.

People like Tok Pa, Hamzah, Dr Latif, Mas Emerianti and many others.

Again, it's something like what happened in Sabah.

The idea would be that Umno will stupidly play along.

Demi perpaduan ummah dan Melayu, they would say.

Well, now Umno seemed to be getting a bit smarter and demanded for itself not to be treated like fools.

So, the chorus started about not wanting another political turmoil with Covid-19 being thrown in for good measure.

Eh, all they need to do is to just count which side have more chairs in the Dewan Rakyat la.

You don't get infected with Covid-19 just for counting chairs.

If you don't have enough seats, then let the one with enough seats to run the country.

That's democracy.

Unless, Muhyiddin feel that he really doesn't have enough seats and want to pull the same stunt like what Shafie Apdal did in Sabah the other day.

Dissolves the parliament and triggers a fresh general election.

Then we'll have Covid-19 problem.

So, if we don't want a fresh wave of Covid-19, don't pull that stunt just because we know we don't have enough seats in parliament.

Be gracious and let go.

Of course, the same goes to the other side, if after the chairs have been counted and it turns out you don't have enough, accept it and shut up.

Really, there should not be any problem over this.

In fact they can do it everyday when parliament is in sitting.

It doesn't really costs anything.

Okay lah, that's my thought on politics today.

I'm going back to watching a Korean drama now.

More fun.

Cheers. 

Umno being friends with DAP is nice

From the very start, I thought it was just another Anwar's stupid drama, but yesterday it turned out that Ku Li had filed a motion of no confidence in parliament against Muhyiddin.

Now it looks more serious as Anwar may really have the number.

Istana Negara had postponed the schedule meetings between the Agong and party leaders but that I believe was because of Covid-19.

Even if those meetings are to be delayed to much much later, Anwar may still be a threat to Muhyiddin when the parliament convenes next month.

It would be interesting to see how Art Harun as the parliament speaker handles the whole thing.

If he is seen as purposely delaying the tabling of the private motion, then we will know that his claim of being impartial would be just bullshit.

More importantly, we would also know that Anwar does indeed have the number.

And that extra which gives him the number comes from Umno.

Well, Muhyiddin for now should try to strike a deal with Umno to prevent that from happening.

Meanwhile, from my personal observation, it could be seen that the pro-Muhyiddin faction in Umno are trying very hard to convince party members and the public to support their cause.

For instance, there's Annuar Musa, who is becoming more and more like Pribumi Bersatu spokesman.

It's quite laughable, actually.

The choice for Umno now is whether to make peace and combine forces with its enemies, or stick around with smaller friends who once stabbed it behind its back and are still bullying it till now.

Yeah, I know that many Umno people can't stomach working with the Anwar's faction, especially DAP, but the option is to die a slow death in the current situation.

For me, DAP is no longer a threat to Umno as it could only make noises despite its huge block of MPs.

And even if it becomes a part of the government again, DAP should already learnt its lesson from the fall of Pakatan Harapan not to be so kurang ajar again.

Okay, I still think Anwar as PM would be bad but it's going to be just for less than two years.

As for the next general election, Umno and its BN allies could go on their own.

In fact, if Umno manages to clean its house by then, BN could even combine forces with DAP to present a new multi-racial front.

That would be nice, I think.

Of course DAP needs to get rid of its bad people too and learn to work with MCA and MIC to win, especially the non-Malay votes.

Let Anwar, Muhyiddin, Pas and the others be on the other side.

I would not even mind them using that Malay unity slogan against the BN and DAP gang, because I believe Malays are rationale people who want to work with other people, provided the other people are not kurang ajar towards them.

I know, many of you would think this could never happen but who knows, Malaysian politics could be quite weird sometimes.

Anyway, just let me daydream of it for a while.

Yeah, Umno and DAP being friends is nice.

Maybe they could find a common ground for the good of the country.

And if that happens, I don't have to quarrel over politics too much anymore with my beloved who is a DAP supporter.

That's really nice.

Okay, that's all. I need to get back to work now.

Ciao..