By Zuraida Abdul Rahman
PENANG, April 19 (Bernama) -- It had been hardly a year since the people in the Permatang Pauh Parliamentary constituency voted for the second time since the 2008 general election following the resignation of its elected representative, now another by-election will have to be called in the area.
If in August last year more than 58,000 voters had to go to the polling booths because Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) president Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Ismail vacated her Permatang Pauh Parliamentary seat to make way for her husband, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, this time Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin vacated the Penanti State constituency seat.
Penanti is one of the three state seats in the Permatang Pauh Parliamentary constituency, besides Seberang Jaya and Permatang Pasir.
When more than 15,000 voters in the Penanti State constituency are struggling to face the economic crisis and the possibility of losing their jobs, the PKR chose to have a by-election again merely to seek popularity, said a political analyst.
It is the general feeling that it would be better to focus on efforts to generate the economy for the benefit of the people, and as the ruling government in Penang, the DAP and PKR coalition should act wisely instead of acting based on emotion.
Political analyst Dr Sivamurugan Pandian from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), said the ruling coalition in Penang had the option of avoiding a by-election by appointing one of the two PKR elected representatives, namely Abdul Malik Abul Kasim (Batu Maung) or Maktar Shapee (Sungai Bakap) to replace Mohammad Fairus as the Deputy Chief Minister I when Mohammad Fairus relinquished the post effective April 8.
However, he said, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng's hopes of having Abdul Malik, who has the trust of the Chief Minister, appointed were dashed because Anwar wanted a replacement who was at least comparable to Mohammad Fairus in terms of charisma and, more importantly, someone firm and could look after the interest of the party in the state government.
The silent 'conflict' between Lim and Anwar in appointing a replacement for Mohammad Fairus became apparent when Anwar delayed the appointment of his candidate and eventually on Thursday morning, the former DCM I resigned as Penanti Assemblyman, Dr Sivamurugan told Bernama.
What was more surprising was that Mohammad Fairus's resignation letter, which was sent to the State Assembly Speaker, Abdul Halim Hussain three days ago, was dated March 19, which was much earlier than Lim's announcement on Mohammad Fairus's resignation as DCM I and State Executive Councillor on March 21.
"This means that Anwar actually knew what was in Mohammad Fairus's mind all this while and had purposely kept Lim and the people waiting. By doing so, Anwar was trying to buy time," said the political analyst.
The action by Mohammad Fairus and Anwar gave the impression as though the PKR was ignoring the Chief Minister because as soon Lim left for Singapore, the announcement on the resignation was made.
Probably shocked by the action of his colleagues, Lim, who was in Singapore, had declined to comment and would only respond upon returning to Penang today.
For Abdul Ghani Haroon, the former Parti Keadilan Nasional (Keadilan) candidate for the Pinang Tunggal state seat in 1999, Anwar's statement that Mohammad Fairus would remain as the State Assemblyman until the 13th general election was merely empty talk.
Lim, who expressed his disappointment at the delay by Anwar in naming the replacement for the DCM I post, was also seen as 'removing' one of the potential PKR candidates for the post, the deputy chairman of the Penang PKR Liaison Body, Dr Mansor Othman, by naming the former lecturer and former State Keadilan chairman as a Member of the Senate.
Lim had also repeatedly reminded Anwar that the power to appoint the new DCM I rested with the Chief Minister although he was giving Anwar the chance to make the nomination as a symbol of esprit de corps.
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