BN
is caretaker govt from Saturday (March 8, 2013)
YES! Prime Minister Najib Abdul
Razak is about to create electoral history for Malaysians and Malaysia.
For the first time after 12 general
elections, the ruling Barisan Nasional (previously Alliance Party) has yet to
call for national polls five years – with a day to go - after a last general
election.
The 12th General Election
was held on March 8, 2008. On Saturday, it is March 8, 2013.
Should Najib not advice the Yang
di-Pertuan Agong to dissolve Parliament tomorrow (Friday, March 7, 2013), BN would
be considered a caretaker government.
Parliament is due for automatic
dissolution on April 28, 2013, because the swearing-in of the MPs and new Parliament
sitting was held on April 28, 2008.
With the automatic dissolution of
Parliament, the Election Commission is then compelled by the Federal
Constitution and law to conduct national polls within 60 days.
Why has this happened?
The answer is obvious to Malaysians.
Najib and BN-Umno do not have the courage or confidence to face the rakyat to secure a new mandate to
govern.
So, sapu semua dulu (sweep everything first)!
Five
years after March 2008 … the only transformation we see
It’s clear that the Umno-led BN has
not recovered from the shocking March 2008 political tsunami that saw it losing
its traditional two-thirds majority in the 222-seat Parliament.
BN-Umno also lost the right to
govern in four states – Kedah, Penang, Perak (which was seized by BN after 11
months by party hoppers or political ‘frogs’) and Selangor.
It also failed to wrest Kelantan
from PAS rule.
Umno leaders have only themselves to
blame for their failure to consolidate their political position after the
political tsunami.
They continued with their corrupt
ways, milking the country dry with grandiose and mega projects that seemingly
provided an unlimited flow of the government’s gravy train.
They refuse to reform Umno and BN,
remaining arrogant and abusing their powers and positions.
They thus alienated themselves with
the rakyat struggling to feed their
families amid rising prices of food and services.
Is BN-Umno still politically relevant
to Malaysians?
Here’s a view from lawyer Tommy
Thomas:
Wednesday, 06 March 2013 18:24
HURRAH!
BN's legitimacy as federal govt ends this Saturday - exper
While the current Barisan Nasional Federal
government may continue after this Friday, five years to the day the last
general election was held in 2008, its political legitimacy can be questioned,
said a constitutional law expert."BN remaining in office from March 9 to June 28, 2013 is constitutional and legal, but its political legitimacy and moral authority are in question.
"Voters can legitimately say that they voted for a BN government on March 8, 2008 to govern for five years, and if that government does not choose to secure another mandate within that period, it becomes a caretaker government," said prominent lawyer Tommy Thomas in an article published by news portal Malaysiakini.
According Tommy, the current parliament will expire on April 28 this year, and general election must be held within 60 days, by June 28.
However, he said if prime minister Najib Razak's administration would like to stick to the tradition of holding state and parliamentary elections on the same day, parliament should be dissolved much earlier than May 26.
This is because May 26 is the last day polling must be held for Negri Sembilan, whose state assembly expires automatically on March 26.
'Why delay?'
Tommy said the Westminster-style system adopted in Malaysia meant that the PM could dictate the date of election, even to call for polls much earlier.
He recalled that in utilising this privilege, all past prime ministers including Abdullah Badawi had dissolved parliament early.
"So why has Najib Abdul Razak not utilised the privilege attached to his office by advising the Agong to dissolve Parliament before the expiry of his term, to be followed by GE13? Only one answer can be inferred: BN is running scared of defeat," he added.
He said the ties between politics and business could also lend credence to the theory that the government would like to enter into contracts benefitting its political coffers ahead of the elections.
Tommy called on Najib to dissolve parliament this Saturday, when the five-year term since the last general election ends, in which case it will be right to call the present government a 'caretaker government'.
"Ultimately, it is pointless to speculate. The undeniable fact is that five years would pass this weekend after the holding of the last election, with no announcement of a dissolution of Parliament and the fixing of the date for GE13. When this occurs, the BN government forfeits the moral high ground to govern our nation," wrote Tommy. – Harakahdaily
