ANWAR – A BY ELECTION OR APPOINTMENT AS SENATOR

Is it necessary for the newly elected Members of Parliament for Lembah Pantai and Permatang Pauh to resign to enable a by election to be held in order that Anwar Ibrahim to contest the by election and be elected as Member of Parliament. Shouldn’t both of them remain as Member of Parliament? The Malaysian Parliament like other Legislature in other countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States is made of two Houses. In the United Kingdom the two houses are called the House of Commons and the House of Lord. The same comparison could be made to Malaysia – the Lower House known as Dewan Rakyat and the Upper House known as Dewan Senate.

Since the Barisan Rakyat is now in control of five states, namely Kelantan, Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor, is it not better for one of the states to nominate Anwar Ibrahim as a Senator to enable him to voice his opinions. Alternatively, since Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) is one of the coalition parties that formed the State Government of Selangor, perhaps Selangor should nominate Anwar Ibrahim to be a Senator. (All State Governments appoint two Senators from each state).

Alternatively should Anwar Ibrahim chooses to be an elected Member of Parliament, instead of Nurul Izzah (Lembah Pantai) or Puan Azizah (Permatang Pauh) resigning their seats, and to enable Tan Seri Khalid Ibrahim to focus on his newly appointed job as Menteri Besar of Selangor, he should offer to resign as Member of Parliament for Bandar Tun Razak to make way for a by election for Anwar Ibrahim to contest and enter Parliament.

Likewise the newly appointed Chief Minister of Penang, may also resign as Member of Parliament to enable someone from Democratic Action Party to contest in the by election. He will then be able to focus on his newly appointed job as the Chief Minister of Penang.

I also feel that the Deputy President of Parti Keadilan Rakyat should be made a Senator which may either come from Selangor or Perak. Likewise Party Islam (PAS) should nominate Mohamad Sabu, Mustaffa Ali and Appandi Mohamad as Senators. Their nomination may come from Kelantan or Kedah.

As it, PAS has only two Senators in the House of Senate representing the State of Kelantan. Having more Senators in the House of Senate representing the Barisan Rakyat will make the Barisan Rakyat to be heard.