New Prime Ministers have dazzled the people with bold promises and pledges of a new beginning in their first 100 days in office.
Both the two previous Prime Ministers, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, took full advantage of the power and magic of their first 100 days in office, leveraging them into stunning general election victories in their first year in office – the unprecedented sweep of 91% parliamentary seats for Abdullah in the 2004 general election and the resounding victory for Mahathir in the 1982 general election.
For Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who will be the sixth Prime Minister after the Umno general assembly next month, his first 100 days would be overshadowed by his infamous pre-100 days, and featuring high on his pre-100 days list is undoubtedly the disgraceful and outrageous grab for Perak power, completely in disregard of the proper constitutional process and respect for the people’s mandate in the 2008 general election.
Malaysia has in the past 24 hours become an international laughing stock because of the constitutional crisis in Perak producing two Mentris Besar – the Pakatan Rakyat Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin who has never vacated office, and the usurper UMNO Mentri Besar Datuk Dr. Zambry Abdul Kadir.
In orchestrating the coup de’tat in Perak with the illegal and unconstitutional grab for power, when Nizar is still the legitimate, effective and functioning Mentri Besar, Najib has caused great harm and damage to the system of democracy, the monarchy and the rule of law in Malaysia.
Unlike his five predecessors, Najib will be assuming the mantle of Prime Minister with the greatest public doubts about his credibility and legitimacy, with so many serious and unanswered allegations hounding him to the highest office in Putrajaya.
Now he has piled up for himself another infamy – the trampling of the constitutional process and democratic rights of the people of Perak with the illegal and unconstitutional grab for power resulting in Perak becoming a state with two Mentris Besar.
In doing so, Najib has aligned himself against democracy, national integrity, constitutional propriety and the will of the people of Perak.
There is nothing he could do in his first 100 days as Prime Minister which could mitigate the grave wrongs he had committed against democracy, national integrity and public confidence in the system of governance in Malaysia in his pre-100 days as Prime Minister – particularly his disgraceful role as the subverter of democracy in Perak.