PETALING JAYA, 6 Feb 2009: Reaction to the political crisis in Perak has been all over the internet.
On 5 Feb 2009, the day it became official that the Barisan Nasional (BN) had succeeded in booting out the Pakatan Rakyat state government, people of different political leanings and convictions blogged furiously about it.
Some, however, resorted to leaving comments on the Sultan of Perak’s website and posting nasty entries on Wikipedia.
In the Guestbook section on the Sultan of Perak’s website, some visitors pleaded with the Ruler to give his consent to dissolve the state assembly so that snap polls could be held.
One visitor, Tan ES, wrote, “Daulat Tuanku, Patik berharap Tuanku dapat menimbang semula, agar izinkan pilihanraya negeri semula di Perak…rakyat negeri Perak jelata inginkan kerajaan pilihan dari rakyat sendiri.”
Others candidly voiced their disappointment and anger. Among the milder comments was that by Rakyat Kechewaa. “Hak rakyat dinafikan. Kami berasa sgt dukacita. Golongan yang rasuah, bermasalah, jahil diangkat jadi pemimpin…yang jujur, adil ditolak,” he wrote.
By the afternoon of 6 Feb, the homepage could not be accessed. There was an Error 404, which basically means the page could not be found. There are several reasons for Error 404: either the link is wrong or the page has been removed from the website.
However, as the Guestbook of the website is powered and hosted by Dreambook, a third-party website, the comments on the Guestbook can still be viewed.
Page not found
Wikipedia pages vandalised
Wikipedia pages for some BN and Pakatan Rakyat politicians were vandalised. At different times on 5 Feb, the Wikipedia pages for the BN and the Jelapang assemblyperson Hee Yit Foong, who left the DAP to be an independent, were taken over by an erotic painting by French artist Édouard-Henri Avril.
These edits by a visitor with the username, Anon aymous, were subsequently removed by other visitors.
Anon aymous and several others, some without usernames, also used sexually explicit and vulgar descriptions in their ranting about Hee betraying her Jelapang constituency. The descriptions were removed by other visitors, only to be added back again by those who contributed to the ranting.
Before … 4 Feb 2009, 11:56pm
Another Wikipedia page that was vandalised was that for PAS assemblyperson for Pasir Panjang, Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, who was told by the Sultan to resign as Perak Menteri Besar on 5 Feb.
After … Change made by Linkinstreet on 5 Feb 2009, 8:34am
An edit by Linkinstreet replaced the photo of Nizar with another picture of him but with the words, “FAIL. Yes you fail” [sic]. The subsequent visitor, who did not sign in under any username, removed the photo.
A couple of Facebook groups have also emerged: Defend Democracy in Perak and Malaysia! and Stop the Coup! Elections in Perak NOW!.
On 4 Feb 2009, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is also Perak BN chairperson, announced that Bota assemblyperson Datuk Nasaruddin Hashim had rejoined Umno after defecting to Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) on 25 Jan 2009.
Three other assemblypersons — Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi (Behrang), Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu (Changkat Jering) and Hee (Jelapang) — announced they had become independents. Jamaluddin and Mohd Osman, both formerly from PKR, are facing corruption charges.
This left the Pakatan Rakyat and the BN with 28 seats each. However, the BN claimed to have the majority support because Jamaluddin, Mohd Osman and Hee said they would support the BN in any vote in the Perak legislative assembly.
Nizar, on behalf of Pakatan Rakyat, met the Sultan on 4 Feb 2009 to seek consent for the state assembly to be dissolved. Najib went to meet the Ruler the following day to show that the BN had the majority support to form the new state government.
The Sultan later issued a statement that Nizar was to resign as MB with immediate effect. A new MB from the BN is expected to be sworn in this afternoon. 
The Rock says
Movies Coming To Your Home:
1. The 4th Reich, starring Tom Screw
2. Terminator 4: Rise of the Mapaches
felix says
The BN won on unworthy terms. With their dirty plan they also got the sultan involved. The integrity and popularity of the sultan has nosedived all because of BN. Hope the sultan sees that the BN is making use of the palace for its own agenda. Hope the sultan will realise this soon and overturn his order for a BN govt.
ilann says
If I write what I really think (as a subject/citizen of Malaysia) the editors of thenutgraph.com won’t be able to post my comment. Doesn’t matter though, because we are all thinking the same thoughts anyway.
The Lord says
WIth PAS ousted, the excellent Ipoh music scene can grow again – without the fear of PAS youth demonstrating or attacking performers who don’t comply to their twisted ideologies.
Mosh!
Sam says
It’s a pity our great and learned sultan can’t see the BN is making use of him for their own ends. Or is it he knows but goes along for reasons best know to himself?
My respect for him is no more though I held him in high esteem once.
The most honourable thing for him to do is to retract his appointment of the BN MB and give his rakyat the chance to make their views known at the ballot box. This way whoever wins the elections in Perak would have done so democratically.
WHY, WHY, WHY did he accede to Najib’s request? Only the sultan knows and he will have to answer to God for his decision. For as long as he lives he will have to live with this decision which I am sure he knows went against the wishes of all Perakians.