Another by-election, another ‘bombshell’ (well, not quite as we already saw it coming). This time in the form of another PKR MP ‘seeing the light’ on the eve of polling for the Tenang by-election.
N Gobalakrishnan, a former MIC Youth secretary general (1993-1999) who joined Keadilan in April 1999, is the sixth PKR MP to quit the party since the 2008 general election. How times have changed. He was detained under the ISA for his role in the reformasi movement. See Aliran – ‘Why has Appa been arrested?’ And in this interview with Aliran after his release, Gobala insisted “Reformasi will never die”:
Reformasi can never die. A person can die, but reformasi will never die because reformation will be talked and talked about every day. Every individual will want to bring about reformation. If there’s a person who says that he doesn’t want to bring about reformation, that means the man is brain-dead… They can put down the organisation, they can put down the gathering of the reformists, but reformation (itself) can never die, and the government can never kill reformation.
When you think about it, how many of the ‘Reformasi 10’ detained under the ISA in 2001 are still interested in reformasi? Apart from Gobala, the others were Tian Chua, Dr Badrul Amin Baharom, Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor, Lokman Noor Adam, Abdul Ghani Haroon, Saari Sungib, Hishamuddin Rais, Raja Petra and Badaruddin Ismail. For those who have now ‘seen the light’, what happened to their reformasi idealism?
And then this clip was from two years ago.
What is the effect on the balance of power in Parliament now?
BN parties
Umno – 78
MCA – 15
PBB – 14
Others – 30
BN total – 137
BN-friendly Independents
Ex-PKR – 5
Ex-Pas – 1
Total BN and BN-friendly independents – 143
Pakatan parties
PKR – 23*
DAP – 29*
Pas – 23
Total Pakatan – 75*
Other opposition parties
PSM – 1
Sapp – 2
Total opposition – 78*
Independent – ex PKR (Gobala) – 1
Total seats – 222
A total of 148 votes is needed for a two-thirds vote.
* Including suspended MPs
That leaves the BN (plus friendly independents) four or five short of its coveted two-thirds majority.
Do you think this defection will have an impact on Tenang tomorrow and the Merlimau by-election on 6 March?
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Everybody has a price.
Even Torres ditched his Liverpool No.9 jersey to join Chelsea for 50 million pounds…
Fairdinkum ,
the politics in our land has been dictated by goons and none had the guts to speak or challenge it. We had PKR and then Hindraf which was the eye opener and since then we had made some in-roads. The battle is half won and we have individuals walking out from the very principles that we fought for. I feel sorry for Bala he makes Indiands like me a shmeful…
You guys never learn, don’t you ? The same old mindless and shallow comments without analysing or understanding the issues. Gopala is one of the founding members of PKR and stood by Anwar from Day 1 through very difficult times even when PKR only had one rep in the parliament. If he wanted position or money, he could have chosen a much more suitable time long time ago. The crux of his unhappiness is the way the party is being run and Anwar. That is clear much longer than the last few months if you care to read the news… Read more »
A pity Gopala has to keep his resignation until the eve of Tenang by-election. If he’s really for the betterment of the people like what he always says, then this action speaks otherwise. He’s self-centred, selfish and thinks that everything must go his way before he can help others….!!! Gopala, if you really have the welfare of the people at heart, it doesn’t matter what post you hold…Look at yourself first before you speak bad of others!!!
I don’t think he would have resigned if he, instead of N. Surendran, were offered one of the nominated VP positions typically reserved for the Indians.
In the recent party elections, those who took advantage of the new rules won.
He did not and lost.
Unable to accept defeat, he chose to bitch and spread venom against comrades whom he used to share a common platform.
The party has no place for leaders such as this.
Good riddance and good luck.
He will resign anyway. A blind like you forever cant see anything!
That means according to you, he would have resigned even if he had won in the party election.
Your are even more shallow than the frog.
He has said he is going to set up an NGO. No mention of being BN friendly yet.
His credentials are certainly better than Zaid’s. If he feels that his grouses are being ignored and this is as far as he can take it, then that’s his choice.
If there are politicians who will fight for a cause, I’d respect that.
But he did say he wasn’t resigning from PKR earlier on and there’s the question of resigning as an MP if you got there on someone else’s ticket.
We’ll just have to wait and see.
Yes, Andrew, you are right. I have amended the tally above accordingly.
He will bejoining MIC, Mark my word
I can’t wait to see whether those who have seen the light would be chosen as candidates for the next general election; if so, how many can be re-elected.
GOOD FOR YOU DATUK GOPALA ![future] EASY COME EASY GO ! Datuk Gopala Its one thing if you stay on in Pkr and irritate them but to sell out ,For What ,Gopala? Money? Respect? Revenge for not being elected VP? So mr. 1 term MP, You disgraced the malaysian indians… RE FO MA SI is it? Self re fo ma si ? Only god can salvage you. Im sure its all a big con job you did on all those who put their faith in you and voted for you…. This is where the proposals of MCLM comes in handy.… Read more »
The likes of Gobalakrishnan and their subesequent generations will continue to be ‘interloked’ in the twilight zone created by MIC and UMNO…
Well, PAS is not expected to win anyway. Gobalakrishna should have waited for the Port Klang seat to be declared and then jump. This defection will not have a significant impact on Tenang. Anyway, the signs are all too clear to see for all prior to this frog jumping to be BN friendly. Let this be an eye opener to all Malaysians, never vote for ex BN component party candidates representing PR. Have you seen this frog during his ceramah? All noise and no substance! Let us vote for candidates who can articulate the Rakyat’s cause come the next GE!… Read more »
ARE YOU ANGRY WITH ALL THE “FROGS” ? PLS RESPECT OUR VOTE, PLS RESIGN, PLS RECONTEST. ALL VOTERS PLS DISPOSE ALL THE “FROGS” IN PRU13. VOTE PR INTO POWER TO PUSH FOR SEPARATION OF POWER BETWEEN MACC, POLICE AND JUDICIARY, ALSO TO OPEN UP PETRONAS ACCOUNT BOOK FOR MALAYSIA. THIS IS RIGHT THING TO DO FOR ANAK CUCU KITA.
that left Hishamuddin Rais as the only one left of those ISA 7 (2001) on the PR side… maybe something had happen during their ISA detaintion…
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ makes an ugly toad sings in a different tune (not croak).
UMNO will definitely regain its 2/3 majority soon.
It seems that one PKR frog will quit the party every time there is a by election…