A frog on a bike might be cute, otherwise, anyway you look at it, is still ugly.
Political frogs are no better. Politicians are known to jump from one party to another for one reason or another.
Ibrahim Ali is acknowledged as the king of political frogs for his record jumps. Probably Jeffery Kitingan comes close as second.
I try not to moralise as each person has his own reasons at a given time to jump ship. What I have in mind is the ugly side of money politics. It might be naïve of me to expect power without wealth. There are so many things that require money to at least survive on and pay for some basic comforts expected of a certain level of position. Is it possible to be politically ambitious without expecting to get rich quick?
Singapore is known to pay their Ministers well so that they will not consider corrupt practices. After all, how much do we actually need in a lifetime? Just look at how Marcos ended up and most people will realise that being exceptionally greedy without being able to enjoy the wealth is pointless. Maybe, his heirs got to enjoy.
It is open knowledge that the situation in Perak is unstable because of the small simple majority of 3 (31 against 28) and that some state assemblymen are being approached to jump ship. As a result, some are in the enviable position of being kingmakers. At a guess, figures of at least Rm1 million are being thrown about as the likely inducement.
The situation seems unfair to the faithful ones as they are assumed to be ‘faithful to the core’ and for want of a better term, ‘incorruptible’. I have mentioned this before and I think it is relevant to quote DAP’s YB Fong Po Kuan who once answered my question: “I would feel insulted if they think I can be bought over”, while DAP’s Teresa Kok replied, “what is the use of money without principles?”
In other words, if we were to encourage politicians to jump ship after a general election, there is no end to further ‘wheeling and dealing’. At the end of the day, the richest side would win them all and we would end up being ruled by the most corrupt people because of their deep pockets, likely to be filled with money from cronies or even foreign backers.
Again, am I being naïve to expect politicians to cross over as a result of being persuaded without the promise of money?
I was prompted by the following article, which appeared in The Malaysian Insider:
Can Anwar become Prime Minister in next few weeks?
KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 – "If there is one name that has pushed Barisan Nasional leaders out of their comfort zone and caused confusion and anxiety, it is Anwar Ibrahim.
When he said on Tuesday that the Opposition should be referred to as the government-in-waiting, he was not referring to five years down the road. He was referring to the next few weeks or months.
He knows that if he manages to convince 30 Members of Parliament to cross over, the government of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will fall.
Since the PKR-DAP-PAS alliance that he cobbled together won big on March 8, taking 52% of the popular vote in Peninsular Malaysia and snaring 82 of the 222 seats in parliament, Anwar has become the most mentioned name in Umno circles.
He knows that the troops of the BN war machine are demoralised and its leaders still reeling from the psychological scars of Election 2008. He will go for the kill, rattling the coalition’s cage, creating the impression of an inevitable wave that some fickle-minded BN MPs will be tempted to abandon the BN ship and join the Opposition.
An Umno division chief from Pahang, who requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information, said: “The talk on the ground is which MPs Anwar is going to approach to join PKR. Everyone says that Sabah and Sarawak MPs are being targeted. But I think everyone except the PM and DPM are targets.’’
Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir, in a letter asking Abdullah to resign, noted that a move has been made to woo BN representatives to join the Opposition. The fear of crossovers is palpable. "
Political frogs are no better. Politicians are known to jump from one party to another for one reason or another.
Ibrahim Ali is acknowledged as the king of political frogs for his record jumps. Probably Jeffery Kitingan comes close as second.
I try not to moralise as each person has his own reasons at a given time to jump ship. What I have in mind is the ugly side of money politics. It might be naïve of me to expect power without wealth. There are so many things that require money to at least survive on and pay for some basic comforts expected of a certain level of position. Is it possible to be politically ambitious without expecting to get rich quick?
Singapore is known to pay their Ministers well so that they will not consider corrupt practices. After all, how much do we actually need in a lifetime? Just look at how Marcos ended up and most people will realise that being exceptionally greedy without being able to enjoy the wealth is pointless. Maybe, his heirs got to enjoy.
It is open knowledge that the situation in Perak is unstable because of the small simple majority of 3 (31 against 28) and that some state assemblymen are being approached to jump ship. As a result, some are in the enviable position of being kingmakers. At a guess, figures of at least Rm1 million are being thrown about as the likely inducement.
The situation seems unfair to the faithful ones as they are assumed to be ‘faithful to the core’ and for want of a better term, ‘incorruptible’. I have mentioned this before and I think it is relevant to quote DAP’s YB Fong Po Kuan who once answered my question: “I would feel insulted if they think I can be bought over”, while DAP’s Teresa Kok replied, “what is the use of money without principles?”
In other words, if we were to encourage politicians to jump ship after a general election, there is no end to further ‘wheeling and dealing’. At the end of the day, the richest side would win them all and we would end up being ruled by the most corrupt people because of their deep pockets, likely to be filled with money from cronies or even foreign backers.
Again, am I being naïve to expect politicians to cross over as a result of being persuaded without the promise of money?
I was prompted by the following article, which appeared in The Malaysian Insider:
Can Anwar become Prime Minister in next few weeks?
KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 – "If there is one name that has pushed Barisan Nasional leaders out of their comfort zone and caused confusion and anxiety, it is Anwar Ibrahim.
When he said on Tuesday that the Opposition should be referred to as the government-in-waiting, he was not referring to five years down the road. He was referring to the next few weeks or months.
He knows that if he manages to convince 30 Members of Parliament to cross over, the government of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will fall.
Since the PKR-DAP-PAS alliance that he cobbled together won big on March 8, taking 52% of the popular vote in Peninsular Malaysia and snaring 82 of the 222 seats in parliament, Anwar has become the most mentioned name in Umno circles.
He knows that the troops of the BN war machine are demoralised and its leaders still reeling from the psychological scars of Election 2008. He will go for the kill, rattling the coalition’s cage, creating the impression of an inevitable wave that some fickle-minded BN MPs will be tempted to abandon the BN ship and join the Opposition.
An Umno division chief from Pahang, who requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information, said: “The talk on the ground is which MPs Anwar is going to approach to join PKR. Everyone says that Sabah and Sarawak MPs are being targeted. But I think everyone except the PM and DPM are targets.’’
Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir, in a letter asking Abdullah to resign, noted that a move has been made to woo BN representatives to join the Opposition. The fear of crossovers is palpable. "
I hope good sense will prevail.
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