Daro,Malaysia:
The Independent group of Parliamentarians has proved that they can indeed lighten and enlighten the Lower Chamber.
During the first session of the Malaysian Parliament this week, the atmosphere surrounding the Lower Chamber was indeed sparkling.
One of the independent MP, Datuk Zahrain Husin, formerly with the Opposition PKR revealed how Anwar Ibrahim, the Opposition Chief, called on eight members of Parliaments from the winning National Front Coalition so that they cross-over to the PR’s side. With eight more MP’s the PR got the numbers right to form the next government.
This happened sometimes after the eight General Election of March 2008.
The situation in the Parliament was more robust as, later, some of these MP’s acknowledged that they were indeed approached by the Opposition Pakatan Rakyat’s leaders and induced to cross-over.
As these acknowledgments came there were also noises of denials from the Opposition’s side.
Among the tricks employed by none other Anwar was to tell these eight MP’s that the then Prime Minister, Abdullah Badawi, no longer had the confidence of the King. By this term, it also meant that the country must have a new government.
Besides lying about the involvement of the royalty, Anwar and his friends also stated that the army was also on their side.
The Chief of the Armed Forces later denied ever giving their support to the Opposition. They were also not approached.
Of course the Malaysian public relished these revelations. So far, the year of the Tiger in Malaysia is really roaring.