FOR the past few days, since the surprise dissolution of the Malacca assembly, I have been struggling to justify the necessity of state elections when there are signs the country is finally moving on from the pandemic crisis.

It is all the more unnecessary when the snap elections are to be held for greater power and positions, not because of irreconcilable policy or ideological differences.

Some may blame the four assemblymen entirely for pulling their support from the government, which led to a loss of confidence.

Yet truthfully, the opposition is as much to blame for this crisis, and the snap election is a direct consequence of Pakatan Harapan (PH) trying to take advantage – albeit unsuccessfully – of the fracturing state government. 

Firstly, if PH sincerely believes state polls may jeopardise the Covid-19 recovery currently underway, then it should extend an olive branch to the government at the risk of being undermined.

The “cooperation” may not be as formalised as the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by their federal counterparts, but the basic idea is that the 11 PH assemblymen in Malacca would not vote down the existing government for the foreseeable future.

If public health is indeed top of Malacca PH’s concern, the correct thing to do is to strike a gentleman’s agreement with the existing Umno government to only have a poll when the pandemic is fully under control.

The reconciliation that was brokered between PH and Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob last month should have played out in a similar fashion in Malacca.

While critics might argue that the government should be proactively reaching out to the opposition first, if there was any political truce to be reached, it is also equally true that the four assemblymen could only withdraw their support in such a bold manner through the tacit encouragement of PH.

If a snap poll is the outcome they least wanted, then it is obvious the gang of four could only topple the state government if the PH assemblymen are equally willing to see the fall of the government.

On the day they officially retracted their support, one of the four – former chief minister Idris Haron – even declared that they were with PH and that they are not supportive of the current government.

It goes without saying PH is also gambling on the state government’s internal crisis and is desperate to return to power.    

Furthermore, Idris, Nor Azman Hassan and Norhizam Hassan Baktee are excos.

There is little incentive for an exco to topple his own government unless his future position is secure. This further shows that the endgame here is to change the government.

Therefore, PH and the four assemblymen were furious when Chief Minister Sulaiman Ali decided to advise Malacca governor Ali Rustam to dissolve the assembly.

It is a completely understandable move and most importantly a constitutional prerogative that any chief executive of the state enjoys under our political system.

In the face of loss of confidence, Sulaiman must either resign or dissolve the assembly to return the mandate to the people.

He chose the latter, and the decision has since been accepted by the governor and subsequently gazetted.  

The only surprising thing is how on Earth PH did not see this coming, and its Malacca gambit has yielded no return of power and left Malaysians with a snap election that nobody really wants.

They are now training their guns on Sulaiman for dissolving the assembly hastily.

Yet PH was vehemently supportive of former Sabah chief minister Mohd Shafie Apdal when he did the same under similar circumstances.  

The truth is PH knows that it has been taken for a ride and its reaction towards the snap poll is aimed to save face, albeit with bizarre reasoning.

This includes how PH and the gang of four collaborated once again to write to the governor to retract his decision to dissolve the state assembly and PH publicly demanding the caretaker chief minister resign.

The Malacca elections is already a fait accompli given that the decision has been gazetted.

What PH is asking is unconstitutional for it infringes on the principle of constitutional monarchy and risks undermining our already fragile political system.

The latter is even more laughable as it has been a century-old political convention for the existing chief minister – who has lost his legitimacy through resignation or loss of confidence – to preside over a caretaker government until election.

In the meantime, the caretaking chief minister would have limited say and executive power over state matters.

It is constitutionally, conventionally, and logically impossible to resign from a caretaking position. PH’s desperation to reverse the election is evident that it has clearly lost the plot on this matter.

Having said that, I am not in any way against any form of democratic exercise even during pandemic times.

What I am frustrated and incandescent about is the fact that the elections are so unnecessary and were triggered not out of ideological deadlock, but rather a direct consequence of realpolitik and irresponsible brinkmanship.

Yet those who will pay the hefty price for any public health backlash stemming from this election would surely not be the prime instigator of this sorry mess.

It is almost as if the painful lessons from the Sabah elections last year have been forgotten or wilfully ignored. – October 10, 2021.

* Kenneth Cheng has always been interested in the interplay between human rights and government but more importantly he is a father of two cats, Tangyuan and Toufu. When he is not attending to his feline matters, he is most likely reading books about politics and human rights or playing video games. He is a firm believer in the dictum “power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will”.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.