Perhaps some of you have heard of the R-A-H-M-A-N prophecy which determines the first 6 Prime Ministers of Malaysia. So far, 5 Prime Ministers have fulfilled the prophecy, leaving the last which remains to be seen if it will be fulfilled. The five Prime Ministers are:
R: Tunku Abdul Rahman
A: Tun Abdul Razak
H: Tun Hussein Onn
M: Tun Dr. Mahathir
A: Dato’ Seri Abdullah Badawi
N: ???
So, is the next Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak? He will fulfill the R-A-H-M-A-N prophecy nicely! But, with the current political situation, anything deemed impossible can be possible. After all, nobody would have believed that BN will lose their 2/3 majority in Parliament, and they lost! Nobody would ever think that Perak and Selangor would fall to Pakatan Rakyat (DAP, PKR and PAS) and Pakatan Rakyat is now the state governments in Perak and Selangor as well as Penang, Kedah and Kelantan.
Abdullah’s days as Prime Minister is widely believed to be numbered. Calls for his resignation has been made by various leaders, including from his party UMNO. Among them former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir and his son who is newly elected Jerlun MP, Mukhriz Mahathir. Former UMNO Vice President, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, fondly known as Ku Li has indicated that he will challenge Abdullah for the Presidents’ post in the UMNO party polls in December. However, Deputy Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib has voiced his backing to Abdullah to continue leading the government and party.
Will Najib make it to the PM’s post, thus fulfilling this prophecy? Or will the prophecy fails after all? Will Ku Li be successful in his bid to win the UMNO President’s post, thus allowing him to claim the PM’s job?
Since the end of 2007, speculation had been around that the price of petrol would be increase after the General Election which was then expected to be before April 2008. True, the election was held on 8 March 2008 and speculation had been that the price of petrol would be increase on 1 April 2008, perhaps even earlier.
During the election campaign, the opposition parties such as DAP, PKR and PAS had been campaigning on the issue of oil prices, among others. De factor leader of PKR, Anwar Ibrahim even promised that if the opposition pact of DAP, PKR and PAS would win the election and form the Federal Government, the price of petrol would be reduced the next day (9 March). The BN on the other hand, had been trying to justify the increase since the 30 sen increase in April 2006 that the government has no control of the world oil prices and would not be able to sustain the subsidies.
So, on 8 March, Malaysians went to the polls, and nearly half of the overall voters, slightly less than half in Peninsula Malaysia, voted the opposition pact! That resulted in a political tsunami which sees the BN losing their 2/3 majority, losing 4 states - Kedah, Penang, Perak, Selangor, failing to capture Kelantan, and only won 1 out of 11 seats in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur. The political tsunami is a result of many factors, the increase in oil prices in 2006 which in turn resulted in the increase of cost of living are among the many factors.
The Star columnist VK Chin wrote an analysis titled No petrol price hike in accordance with people’s wish. I would quote the first 6 paragraphs here:
“DATUK Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said last week there would be no increase in the petrol price, since this was the wish of the people. The Prime Minister said his administration had accepted and recognised the strong message of voters as reflected in the result of the 2008 general election.
Prices of petroleum products, such as petrol, diesel and natural gas have always been associated with rising costs of consumers goods and, hence, an increase in the cost of living.
Pak Lah could have given this assurance during the election campaign but did not because the cost of fuel is dependent on the global price of crude oil, which is beyond the control of any government.
It would have been difficult to give such an undertaking without first taking into consideration what petroleum subsidies could do to the economy.
He and his colleagues therefore preferred not to make promises that they might not be able to keep, especially if such a decision could damage the nation’s financial position in the long term.
Since voters felt so strongly about this issue, the Government had to accept the will of the people. But this is only one part of the story since profiteering by unscrupulous firms and traders must also be taken into account.”
So, it takes a very strong message from the voters to halt the decision to increase the price of petrol and other petroleum products. And if the government can sustain without increasing the petrol price, why didn’t they listen to the people 2 years ago when many had voiced out against the 30 sen increase? Protests were held at KLCC 2 years ago against the petrol price hike, and the authorities responded with water cannons and tear gases!
The opposition parties had explained that the government can sustain even if the petrol price is reduced, but the government is in denial! While everyone is happy now at least, the petrol price will not be increased for now, we do not know how long will this last. It will be a bonus if the government takes the people’s message in the elections more seriously, by reducing the price of petrol by 30 sen per liter!
Lim Kit Siang
Leaders of DAP, PKR and PAS met in Petaling Jaya today and took the logical next step of the March 8 political tsunami – proposing the establishment of a new front of the three political parties to be tentatively known as PAKATAN RAKYAT.
A joint statement issued after the meeting reads:
The leaders of KeADILan, DAP and PAS met today in furtherance of the meeting held on the 18th of March 2008.
Today’s meeting was attended by, among others, Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim, YB Lim Kit Siang, YB Dato’ Seri Tuan Guru Haji Abdul Hadi Awang and YB Datin Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
In today’s meeting, we have proposed to consolidate the cooperation between the three parties under the name “PAKATAN RAKYAT”. This name has been proposed pending confirmation by the respective parties.
Pakatan Rakyat pledges to uphold the rights and interests of all Malaysians, regardless of religion or race, as enshrined in the Constitution.
With the results of the recent elections, the state governments of Kelantan, Kedah, Pulau Pinang, Perak and Selangor will be known as Pakatan Rakyat state governments. The policies of these governments will be conducted in accordance with the policies of Pakatan Rakyat.
To further mutual understanding regarding such policies, a convention of all Pakatan Rakyat elected representatives of Parliament and State Assemblies will be held on the 27th of April 2008.
We have developed and strengthened the structure of Pakatan Rakyat by creating under the Leadership Council, consisting of the leaders of the three parties, a Joint Secretariat consisting of three leaders from each of the three parties. This joint Secretariat will be tasked with building the foundation and framework of the Pakatan Rakyat for ratification by the Leadership Council.
Tomorrow marks the end of the 1st quarter of the year 2008.
The 1st quarter of 2008 is indeed a happening 3 months! In January 2008, shortly after the ushering of the New Year, the Chinese were busy with preparations to welcome the Lunar Year of the Rat, which fell on 7 February. And mid-way during the 15-day Chinese New Year festivities, the Parliament and all state assemblies (except Sarawak) were dissolved, paving way for the 12th General Election on 8 March which saw a political tsunami with the ruling BN denied their 2/3 majority for the first time since 1969, lost Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor states as well as failed to capture Kelantan.
What is in store in the next quarter? Well, the 12th Parliament shall convene by the end of April. And talk is going on that we might see the 2nd wave of a political tsunami which will result in a new Prime Minister within this year. How far it is true, we just have to observe the happenings in the coming weeks. The recent results of the General Election shown that the impossible did happen after all.
The 10 state executive councilors (Exco) of the Perak state government were sworn in before the Regent of Perak, Raja Dr. Nazrin Shah at Istana Iskandariah, Kuala Kangsar this morning. Among them is the state assemblyman of Pasir Bedamar, Seah Leong Peng. The Pasir Bedamar state constituency, located within the Telok Intan parliamentary constituency is where I voted at in the past two elections.
Perak State Administration:
Menteri Besar: Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin (PAS - Pasir Panjang)
Exco:
- Ngeh Koo Ham (DAP - Sitiawan)
- Nga Kor Ming (DAP - Pantai Remis)
- Su Keong Siong (DAP - Pasir Pinji)
- Chen Fook Chye (DAP - Keranji)
- Seah Leong Peng (DAP - Pasir Bedamar)
- A. Sivanesan (DAP - Sungkai)
- Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi (PKR - Behrang)
- Tai Sing Ng (PKR - Kuala Sepetang)
- Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu (PKR - Changkat Jering)
- Mohd Zainudin Mohd Yusof (PAS - Lubok Merbau)
