Address issues of trust and suspicion in politics, lessons from Perak - Analyst

KUALA LUMPUR: The political crisis that had hit Perak is actually rooted in distrust and mutual suspicion between two political parties, namely UMNO and Bersatu.

Senior Fellow of the National Council of Professors, Dr Jeniri Amir, opined that it should be a lesson for the government in formulating the next political plan.

"When the Perak government was formed, it must be acknowledged that the number of seats owned by UMNO and Bersatu was very different.

“UMNO had more seats with 25 compared to five owned by Bersatu.

"The five seats were the result of the State Assemblymen (ADUN) who jumped the party from UMNO.

“So, the figure was not balanced and then when Bersatu was appointed as Menteri Besar, there was dissatisfaction," he said on Buletin AWANI.

Dr Jeniri added that the matter was later exacerbated by the actions of the former Perak Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu, who was considered trying to undermine UMNO's power and make Bersatu the dominant political power in Perak.

"He appointed an UMNO assemblyman as his political secretary and I understand it was done without discussing with UMNO first.

"This is definitely an unpleasant situation because it seems to be an attempt to 'steal' another UMNO assemblyman.

"Thus, a crisis erupted that toppled Faizal because the vote of confidence could no longer be avoided," he added.

The political turmoil in Perak began after Ahmad Faizal failed to gain the support of the majority in the motion of confidence submitted by the State Assemblymen at the state assembly sitting, last Friday.

It saw Ahmad Faizal removed from his post when he only got 10 votes in support while another 48 state assemblymen did not support him.

Datuk Abdul Manaf Hashim (Pengkalan Baharu-UMNO) who submitted the motion, voted not to give support while Titi Serong assemblyman, Hasnul Zulkarnain Abd Munaim who left Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) and later joined Bersatu reportedly abstained.