I always thought that politician is a recession-proof profession. Otherwise we would not see so many people trying to climb up the power corridor to become ministers or state exco. Despite the suffering of the common people due to escalating unemployment and difficulty in doing business as a result of economic downturn, hardly we heard that politicians were affected by economic downturn. However, with the collapse of PR-led Perak state government recently, the exco members were instantly retrenched. That certainly was not voluntary separation scheme as the PR exco members still insist their legitimacy. What happened in Perak was never seen before in the history of Malaysia, two menteri besar with their own exco members, what a disaster?
The new menteri besar on the other hand finds it rather tough to name his exco members. Out of 28 state elected representatives, 27 are from UMNO and 1 from MCA. How to form a balance state exco representing a multi races composition of the state? He then appointed 3 advisers, one each from UMNO, MIC and Gerakan, which carry exco status adding to the earlier appointed 6 exco to form a rather weird line-up. But these advisers are not elected by the people during the March 2008 general election. In other words, they are not representative of the people. Can this line-up be accepted by Perakian?
I was wrong to say that politician is a recession-proof profession. Some how the Perak episode shows us that even the politicians are not spare from the threat of unemployment even they have won their elections. Betrayal from their counterparts may cause them to lose jobs. But like any other people who were retrenched or terminated during economic downturn, they just have to pull up their socks and try their luck 4 years later, prolonged tension between political parties and their supporters would not do any good to the country. After dust settles down, the priority of the government, be it state or federal government, is to lessen the adverse impacts of the economic downturn on the people. Otherwise, 4 years later, there could be even more drastic political turbulence awaiting us.
The new menteri besar on the other hand finds it rather tough to name his exco members. Out of 28 state elected representatives, 27 are from UMNO and 1 from MCA. How to form a balance state exco representing a multi races composition of the state? He then appointed 3 advisers, one each from UMNO, MIC and Gerakan, which carry exco status adding to the earlier appointed 6 exco to form a rather weird line-up. But these advisers are not elected by the people during the March 2008 general election. In other words, they are not representative of the people. Can this line-up be accepted by Perakian?
I was wrong to say that politician is a recession-proof profession. Some how the Perak episode shows us that even the politicians are not spare from the threat of unemployment even they have won their elections. Betrayal from their counterparts may cause them to lose jobs. But like any other people who were retrenched or terminated during economic downturn, they just have to pull up their socks and try their luck 4 years later, prolonged tension between political parties and their supporters would not do any good to the country. After dust settles down, the priority of the government, be it state or federal government, is to lessen the adverse impacts of the economic downturn on the people. Otherwise, 4 years later, there could be even more drastic political turbulence awaiting us.
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