by Martin Jalleh
BN-appointed menteri besar Zambry Abd Kadir thinks he is very slick and smart. Sadly, he has shown himself to be very shallow and slow.
He had very gleefully posed what M’kini called a “pertinent question” to the Menteri Besar of Perak Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin. He had thought he had delightfully delivered a body blow, damned his rival, and driven him to the ground.
Zambry claimed that Nizar had stated his position as ‘Pasir Panjang assemblyman’ and not as ‘menteri besar’ in his nomination papers filed last Saturday, to contest the Bukit Gantang by-election on April 7.
“All this while, he has been telling the whole world he is the lawful menteri besar. So why didn’t he address himself as the menteri besar in the nomination papers?” exclaimed Zambry, much to the delight of the crowd comprising mainly women and the elderly. (M’kini)
The answer is very simple and it reflects how astute a politician Nizar really is. He has taken into account the politicial realities that he has to contend with — realities that appear more and more grotesque with each passing day in Bukit Gantang.
If he had stated that he is the Menteri Besar of Perak, his victory in the by-election will be challenged by Umno and its cohorts. Yes, this may sound ridiculous, but what is no longer ridiculous with regard to the powers that be? So here goes.
The Election Commission which had decided to play politics to ensure that the fraudulent Perak State Government comes into power, will declare that Nizar had made a “fraudulent claim” in the nomination papers!
Or Umno could resort to an Election Court and they could look for the most junior judge (judicial commissioner) in Perak (which made the judiciary the butt of everyone’s jokes by his jaundiced judgments) to decide that Nizar’s declaration was technically faulty!
Or the police, under the instructions of the Home Minister, who is slowly being nursed back to health after a badly bruised ego as a result of being rejected by his own party, could arrest Nizar for “impersonation”!
Nizar is not so naive as Zambry so desperately tries to project him. He is a humble man with nerves of steel. In fact, he does not need to state in his nomination papers that he is the true Menteri Besar. We Perakians know it in our hearts, and that would suffice.
It would be best that Zambry zips up, for his ignorance is becoming very glaring especially in Bukit Gantang.