Commentary
Is Barisan Nasional taking Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s boast of the imminent crossover of 30 BN MPs seriously?
Datuk Shafie Apdal gave an emphatic answer to that question today when he cobbled together a gathering of 20 MPs from East Malaysia to state their undivided loyalty to the ruling coalition.
More is to follow. He promised that all the elected representatives from Sabah and Sarawak will sign a pledge of loyalty to BN and deliver it to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi tomorrow.
"We are not commodities to be bought and sold. We have our honour...
"Don't listen to Anwar's lies," he said at a press conference in the Parliament lobby today.
Brave talk indeed but here is the reality: Shafie and other senior BN officials have been working overtime since Anwar won the Permatang Pauh by-election on Tuesday to head off any crossover of East Malaysian MPs.
Why? Because the stunning victory by the Opposition icon has sowed more seeds of doubts in the minds of some MPs on the ability of the Barisan Nasional leadership to hold the coalition together or chart a plan to regain the support of Malaysians.
Why? Because Anwar has repeatedly reached out to East Malaysian MPs with a buffet of offers, ranging from senior positions in the Cabinet to more political autonomy.
And these meetings have been going on even after the threat of the crossover seemed to have dissipated in June after Abdullah visited both states and offered them more federal funds.
Since Tuesday night, Shafie and several other senior BN officials have been doing a roll call of sorts – meeting Sabah and Sarawak MPs, getting a gauge of their restlessness, assuring them that one swallow does not make a summer.
The vast majority of the MPs have no inclination to move for a variety of reasons: they don’t trust Anwar; they don’t believe the Pakatan Rakyat alliance is durable; they are believers in the Barisan Nasional power-sharing concept.
But a clutch of them fall into the high-risk group. They are upset that promises of contracts and projects for their constituencies or for supporters have not materialised since Election 2008.
They believe that East Malaysian states may obtain more autonomy under a Pakatan Rakyat federal government. They are tempted by Anwar’s offer of senior Cabinet positions.
Some MPs in this group or even all of them may sign the pledge of loyalty to BN tomorrow but it will not guarantee their allegiance beyond this month.
For them, the option of crossing over will remain alive as long as BN’s hold on power seems tenuous.
malaysia insider.
2008年8月28日星期四
2008年8月26日星期二
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