― Fikry Osman
The Malaysian Insider
March 28, 2013
MARCH 28 ― The Negri Sembilan state assembly ran out of time and all the mentri besar could do is say that his is now the caretaker state government.
What kind of leadership is this? As the state’s chief executive, Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan should have had the scrotal gumption to dissolve the legislature and notify the Election Commission (EC).
It would be up to them to decide the timing for polls, whether to hold it first or wait for the other assemblies and Parliament to also be dissolved.
Instead, he waited until time ran out and reportedly said, “There has to be a caretaker government because we will have to pay wages and look into other matters during the period… without a caretaker government, there will be anarchy.”
That is stating the obvious. Of course there is a caretaker government until the polls are held, whether he dissolves it or it is done automatically.
He should have just gone ahead and done it himself instead of looking like a clueless politician waiting for further orders from Putrajaya.
It reflects his lack of leadership and confirms what Negri Sembilan Umno leaders have been complaining about. That he is useless and allows his family to run the state Umno and government.
If Barisan Nasional (BN) is serious about keeping the state, or any other state and even Putrajaya, it can start with a better slate of leaders. It can start with those who won’t wait for Putrajaya to tell them what to do.
Maybe the prime minister has his reasons for delaying the polls as reported today, but that does not mean the Negri Sembilan assembly should be allowed to lapse just like that. It is a historic first but not a good one.
It shows how lacklustre this state government is that its leaders can just watch the assembly expires, without doing anything.
If this is BN’s strategy, it will backfire and they will lose the state.
We want a dynamic leadership in Seremban to take care of Negri Sembilan. Not the current crop of politicians who don’t have the guts to dissolve the state assembly.