A spate of news reports quoting the Speaker, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia as saying that the oath-taking ceremony to swear in the winner of the Permatang Pauh by-election today would most likely be held in mid-October and that he did not see any urgency to “fix a quick date” has raised eye-brows all round and thrown up a flurry of questions.
There can be no doubt that if the Barisan Nasional candidate Datuk Arif Shah Omar wins the Permatang Pauh by-election, he would definitely be sworn in as MP in Parliament this week, latest by Thursday if not tomorrow itself – so that it could be used by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as a much-needed confidence-booster after the devastation suffered by the Barisan Nasional in the March 8 “political tsunami” relegating the Barisan Nasional to the Opposition benches in five states – Penang, Selangor, Perak, Kedah and Kelantan – and depriving for the first time in Malaysian history of its two-thirds parliamentary majority.
I believe nobody in Malaysia doubts that if Arif could win the Permatang Pauh by-election today, he would be sworn in as MP in Parliament tomorrow or latest by Thursday.
Why then should the position be any different if Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is re-elected as MP for the constituency and storms back to Parliament with a historic majority?
Abdullah, the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak who had spearheaded the Barisan Nasional Permatang Pauh by-election campaign to be a 4Ds campaign – the dirtiest and the most disgraceful, dishonourable and divisive election strategy – and other Barisan Nasional leaders may not want to see Anwar return to Parliament in triumph to take his seat as the Parliamentary Opposition Leader exactly opposite Abdullah for 2009 Budget presentation on Friday, but this is not for them but for the voters of Permatang Puah to decide today!
The reasons that have been given by the Speaker in the press why Anwar will not be able to take his rightful seat in Parliament for the 2009 Budget presentation on Friday when he wins the by-election do not stand up to scrutiny.
This is what Pandikar Amin said, as reported in The Star today:
Pandikar Amin said although the by-election result would be announced tonight, he would still have to wait for a formal letter from the EC before he can fix a date for the new MP to take his oath.
“I do not see any urgency for me to fix a quick date. For all you know, the newly elected MP may want to go for a holiday first, or even for an umrah before coming to the Dewan Rakyat,” he said yesterday.
“I am prepared for anything but I can’t answer whether the new MP will be able to attend the tabling of the Budget this Friday,” he said.
If Anwar is frustrated from being sworn in as MP and to take his rightful place in Parliament during the 2009 Budget presentation on Friday, Parliament would have failed the voters of Permatang Pauh and the people of Malaysia.
There is no reason whatsoever why Anwar could not be sworn in as MP and appointed as Opposition Leader to take the first Opposition seat opposite the Prime Minister in Parliament for the 2009 budget presentation on Friday.
In 1983, the then DAP National Chairman Dr. Chen Man Hin won the Seremban by-election on Saturday, 19th November 1983 and was sworn in as MP on Monday, 21st November 1983. The Seremban by-election was created when the then MCA President, Datuk Lee San Choon who had won the seat from Dr. Chen in the 1982 general election, made a sudden announcement of political retirement.
If Dr. Chen could be sworn in as MP in less than 36 hours of his re-election as MP, as Parliament was then in session, we should be even more efficient 25 years later especially in the era of information technology.
I don’t see why Anwar could not be sworn in as MP in Parliament tomorrow on his victory in the Permatang Pauh by-election today. Even if Anwar could not be sworn in tomorrow, there is no reason whatsoever why Anwar could not be sworn in on Thursday, start his appointment as Parliamentary Opposition Leader and take his place in the first Opposition seat in Parliament on Friday directly opposite Abdullah during the 2009 Budget presentation.
Pakatan Rakyat, which won 82 seats in Parliament, has appointed Anwar as the new Parliamentary Opposition Leader in place of Datuk Seri Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail. An official letter on Anwar’s appointment would be submitted to the Speaker tomorrow.
Abdullah may not be able to smoothly present the 2009 Budget on Friday if Anwar is frustrated from being sworn in as MP and taking his rightful place in the first Opposition seat as Opposition Leader in Parliament.