SABAH UMNO HAS JUSTIFICATION BUT NOT MCA & MIC
WHEN recently retired prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi named his Cabinet last year soon after the March 8 general elections, the loudest protestations were heard from Sabah Umno, considering that the party and its Barisan Nasional counterparts had done extremely well to ensure that the coalition remained in control of the federal administration.
Not only did Sabah Umno complain about not being given enough posts; the ones given were seen to be less important portfolios. Essentially the unhappiness was at not being given the respect due to Sabah Umno. They were riled up and who could blame them.
For a while it looked quite messy, with issues raised by Sabah backbenchers in Parliament indicating a real sense of frustration and read by some to be a warning to Kuala Lumpur to take more notice or pay the price. Not unexpectedly opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim got into the fray, playing the role of spoiler to entice Sabah Umno MPs to cross over to his Pakatan Rakyat.
New PM Najib Najib Razak has put the unease to rest. In his Cabinet are four full ministers from Sabah, two of them from Umno, given portfolios they cannot complain about. Amongst the five deputy ministers are three from Umno.
A coalition of political parties, any coalition, is about compromises and a balancing act. One gives and the other takes. Someone gains and someone loses. Every party wants a stake, demands made and discussed but I don't think anyone can begrudge the demands pushed forward by Sabah Umno.
But the situation with two main partners in the coalition -- the MCA and MIC -- is completely different. Here are two parties that got burnt in March last year and in two by-elections recently showed that they had yet to recover but yet think that they deserve better treatment in relation to Najib's Cabinet.
Demands by both as reported in the press resulted in some strong reactions at various e-groups, the Malays asking if this was the right thing to do and if Umno had not made enough concessions already?
The statistics are there for all to see. Compared to the 2004 general elections, in which Barisan did exceptionally well, Umno's representation in the overall scheme of things has not changed much. In 2004 Umno contributed 55% representation to the Barisan's 198 Parliamentary seats while after the 12th elections last year, this has been at 56%. The MCA saw a decline from 15.6% to 10.7% while the MIC's went down from 4.5% to 2.14%.
Agreed that it's all about compromises and a spirit of give-and-take but each request or demand must be justified and not merely based on a formula little backed by performance.
Not only did Sabah Umno complain about not being given enough posts; the ones given were seen to be less important portfolios. Essentially the unhappiness was at not being given the respect due to Sabah Umno. They were riled up and who could blame them.
For a while it looked quite messy, with issues raised by Sabah backbenchers in Parliament indicating a real sense of frustration and read by some to be a warning to Kuala Lumpur to take more notice or pay the price. Not unexpectedly opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim got into the fray, playing the role of spoiler to entice Sabah Umno MPs to cross over to his Pakatan Rakyat.
New PM Najib Najib Razak has put the unease to rest. In his Cabinet are four full ministers from Sabah, two of them from Umno, given portfolios they cannot complain about. Amongst the five deputy ministers are three from Umno.
A coalition of political parties, any coalition, is about compromises and a balancing act. One gives and the other takes. Someone gains and someone loses. Every party wants a stake, demands made and discussed but I don't think anyone can begrudge the demands pushed forward by Sabah Umno.
But the situation with two main partners in the coalition -- the MCA and MIC -- is completely different. Here are two parties that got burnt in March last year and in two by-elections recently showed that they had yet to recover but yet think that they deserve better treatment in relation to Najib's Cabinet.
Demands by both as reported in the press resulted in some strong reactions at various e-groups, the Malays asking if this was the right thing to do and if Umno had not made enough concessions already?
The statistics are there for all to see. Compared to the 2004 general elections, in which Barisan did exceptionally well, Umno's representation in the overall scheme of things has not changed much. In 2004 Umno contributed 55% representation to the Barisan's 198 Parliamentary seats while after the 12th elections last year, this has been at 56%. The MCA saw a decline from 15.6% to 10.7% while the MIC's went down from 4.5% to 2.14%.
Agreed that it's all about compromises and a spirit of give-and-take but each request or demand must be justified and not merely based on a formula little backed by performance.
source : http://azizhassan.blogspot.com/2009/04/sabah-umno-has-justification-but-not.html
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