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Under normal circumstances, it is immoral and unacceptable for the rakyat to accept party- hopping. But the turn of events lately shows that the present Umno leadership has not changed. They have just temporarily suspended their hegemony due to their internal problems.
Post-March 8 events such as the proposed Syariah court extension of khalwat punishments for non-Muslims, immigration ban on Indian temple priests and craftsmen, the refusal of release of 5 innocent ISA Hindraf detainees, Azalina’s withdrawal of tourism MOUs and state tourism funding are some of the examples that Umno has no intention of changing of their old ways. Based on these recent developments and for the greater good of the rakyat, we should accept genuine party-hopping from BN to PR for the following reasons: 1. Recent events have shown that the federal BN government intends to frustrate the efforts of the new state government in the five states through all means – bias reporting in all the mainstream media, diversion of federal funds, baseless fault-finding, accusation of sedition on open tenders, etc. The opposition-led states cannot function freely and realise their full potential if the federal government is bent on frustrating their efforts. If the federal government is not changed now, there isn’t going to be much progress in the next five years. The rakyat is going to be in a stalemate until the next election. 2. We have seen attempts of withholding state funding starting with tourism projects. We can be very certain that this will extend to other divisions and other projects. The example in Terengganu has clearly shown that the BN government cannot be trusted with the rakyat’s monies. The wang ehsan in Terengganu was virtually swiped away by a few Umno cronies. Even more billions of ringgit will be involved this time. What is there to stop the wang ehsan of the five states from being squandered away by the BN cronies especially when some have come to realise this time it may be their last opportunities? 3. Disbursing federal funds to a parallel body only result in unnecessary duplication of efforts and monies as shown previously in Sabah, Sarawak and Kelantan. You can see for yourself how so much monies are wasted on the salaries paid to JKKK, the BN crony village headmen, duplicate tourism agencies, etc. If these are stopped now, the savings over the next five years will amount to billions of ringgit for the rakyat. 4. There’s still time to frustrate or stop corruption-gained monies from flowing to Umno and their cronies on recent projects. We have already heard in the news of massive and major land scams in Selangor, Penang, Perak and Kedah, the Port Klang Free Zone debacle ($4.6 billion), the Putrajaya government staff quarters (RM5.8billion), PGCC project ($25 billion) and many, many more in the pipeline. There may still be time to salvage, maybe not all, but part of the corruption-gained monies if the federal government changes hand now. 5. There are many MPs in the present BN fold that do not subscribe to the ideology of the present regime. These are the forward and independent-thinking MPs. But they are shackled by the present BN administration in all ways in presenting their thoughts and ideas in Parliament. In principle, these MPs are more likely to flourish and be more useful to their rakyat if they were to be in PR. So what’s wrong if they were to defect to PR where they can be more effective for those people who elected them? 6. Umno has merely suspended its hegemony for the time being because of its own internal strifes. You can bet your last ringgit that when it regains its concentration, their strength will increase many fold and they will be even more powerful in thwarting the new state governments in the five states. They will spare no efforts in rolling back the New Dawn. The small window of opportunity to strike at Umno is only now when they are in the state of shock, denial and disorganised. It’s now or never. Party hopping is immoral. But the rakyat has no choice if it wants to save billions and get on with progress. It’s a no brainier that the federal government must be changed - not five years down the road but now. BY LJ Wong [LJ Wong is a chartered accountant by profession and has worked in a public listed company before he retired recently. Every now and then, he contributes his ideas and opinion for a just and free Malaysia.]
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