So what do you need to get at least 2 people to jump to your side, declare yourself victoriuos and form the government?
a. MONEY to entice, POWER to threaten and the RUTHLESSNESS to employ them until the necessary end is achieved.
b. YBs who are susceptible to MONEY and vulnerable to threats
c. The cooperation of strategic "friendlies"
d. A "conspiracy council" to coordinate the execution of the plot
e. Right timing to strike
f. A mechanism to rubber-stamp the new regime's legitimacy after the coup
Did the BN have all of those?
a. No problem. UMNO/BN has plenty of that.
b. Already got the 2 PKR reps facing corruption charges.
c. Who were UMNO/BN's strategic "friendlies"? Who knew the PR the best? The inside people - the State's senior civil servants, of course. The State Secretariat is nowhere near neutral, having only known UMNO's rule-by-patronage for decades. And they work with the PR excos every day.
d. The UMNO/BN liaison committees would logically be major components of the "conspiracy council" in order to coordinate the effort among the various parties.
e. The opportune time came when the State was busy preparing for the Sultan's Silver Jubilee. There was probably a celebratory mood among the PR reps. They could not have forgotten how the Sultan graciously guided them to form the coalition government in Perak. They could have been distracted from politics while getting some real work done - surely the huge details involved in organising a massive celebration kept them busy. And the conspiracy was set in motion during the CNY festivities, so the PR's political strength was diminished by holidaying YBs.
f. How to legitamise a coup? Get a higher authority to say that what happened was OK. The trouble was, the highest authority in the land - the Constitution - had very specific instructions on how a government could be changed. None of which UMNO/BN followed. The next highest authority - the courts - would take too long and may have a chance of ruling against UMNO/BN. So then, UMNO/BN made use of the the Sultan - the most convenient high authority. He has no legal powers to play referee in political disputes, so HRH would be no threat to the coup. But his moral authority would stamp legitimacy all the same. But you would need some way to manipulate HRH into deciding in your favour, especially since HRH is known as a Ruler of high integrity.
All the pieces were in place. So, how did it actually happen?
to be continued...
I like your about me introduction.
ReplyDeleteI share the same...
After I wrote The Grand Design,
ReplyDeleteI receive information that it is small. I choose to defer, knowing organizations and used to be involved in event management, I say it is BIG, if not HUGE.
A "conspiracy council" is a term you use. I can agree.
Here I learn about the connections at state level.