Najib will be finishing his seventh month as Prime Minister which he started off with the slogan “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now”.

Does Najib’s 2010 Budget pass as a 1Malaysia Budget?

Two events have cast their shadows over the 2010 Budget and the 1Malaysia slogan – first, the drowning of 11 year-old Dina Devi Nathan from SJK (T) Mambang Di Awan and we have just received reports confirming the death of the other two eleven-year-olds Devadharshini Mageswaran from SJK (T) Mambang Di Awan and Divya Shree Vasudevan from SJK (T) Gopeng when the suspension bridge of the Education Ministry’s 1Malaysia motivation camp at SK Kuala Dipang collapsed on Monday night, sending some 30 pupils crossing the bridge into the Kampar River.

Like other DAP MPs including the MP for Bagan, Lim Guan Eng, MP for Beruas Ngeh Koo Ham, MP for Ipoh Barat, Kulasegaran who visited the tragic Kuala Dipang site on Tuesday, I was shocked and outraged at the utter recklessness, negligence, irresponsibility and complete disregard for the lives and safety of schoolchildren on the part of the authorities, particularly the education department and the contractor concerned, in allowing the suspension bridge to be built without adequate foundation or safety features causing its collapse in two weeks and claiming the lives of three children.

There should be a full public inquiry into the tragedy of the collapse of the Kuala Dipang 1Malaysia centre suspension bridge, with no cover-ups to avoid accountability as is the prevalent culture of the government-of-the-day.

Heads must roll, whether the Education Minister, Deputy Education Minister, the Education Ministry Secretary-General, the Education Director-General or others to end the culture of impunity if the tragedy of the Kuala Dipang Suspension Bridge tragedy and the loss of innocent lives are not to be repeated.

This is one dire example that Najib’s “1Malaysia.Performance Now. People First” programme can kill innocent people, like the three hapless Tamil school pupils in Kampar if it is a camouflage for corruption, abuse of power and various improprieties and irregularities.

The second event was the farce of two separate Perak State Assembly sittings held simultaneously at the same time and in the same venue at the Perak State Secretariat yesterday, with two Mentris Besar and two Speakers – all caused by “1Malaysia. 2Perak. 3Katak”!

What is even more shameful was the gross abuse of police powers yesterday after their shameful and dishonourable role in the May 7 State Assembly meeting when plainclothes police personnel physically dragged out the legitimate and lawful Speaker Sivakumar in Speaker’s Chair out of the Assemblymen and illegally imprisoned him in the storeroom.

Despite or because of the public statement of the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein to “use less force” for the Oct. 28 Perak State Assembly, the police got the message to ensure that their “dirty work” was not committed in broad-daylight videoed for the whole world to see – like being physically dragged out in Speaker’s Robe in Speaker’s Chair which barbaric scene was immediately flashed world-wide.

The police, some 40 to 50 in plainclothes used force to assault and strangle Sivakumar to forcibly remove Speaker’s robe and songkok from him, but all this was done in the carpark of SUK, with the police hoping that such a dastardly deed would be committed without being photographed or videotaped.

What happened in the charade of the two simultaneous Perak State Assembly sittings in Ipoh yesterday was as reprehensible and shameful as the May 7 episode.

How can Najib convince Malaysians that he is fit and qualified to lead a 1Malaysia campaign when he is most responsible for creating 2Perak, two Perak Mentris Besar, two Perak Speakers, foisting an illegitimate, illegal and undemocratic state government on the people of Perak by robbing them of their democratic rights to elect the government of their choice?

Is Najib prepared to end the political charade in Perak by returning power to the people of Perak to freely and democratically choose the government they want by dissolving the Perak State Assembly and the holding of Perak state general elections?

This is the most democratic and legitimate way for Najib to resolve the undemocratic, illegal and unconstitutional power grab in Perak.

Najib should be forewarned that unless he could honourably and democratically resolve the illegitimate power grab in Perak by returning power to the people, he would never be able to earn full public credibility and legitimacy as a Prime Minister fit to lead a 1Malaysia campaign for the whole country.

[Speech 2 in Parliament on 2010 Budget on 29.10.2009]