Leaving a sinking ship

Will they be wearing a different color soon?

In my very first blog posting about the change in government, I wrote that over time, we will have a one-party rule system again because BN will gradually get decimated. Actually, this is happening faster than expected with plenty of defections, pending defections and anticipated defections happening going on.

Over in East Malaysia, horsetrading is already in full swing. Don't be surprised if before this weekend is over, both Sabah and Sarawak are no longer under BN. But as I have noted, it will happen in the peninsula too. Perhaps not as swiftly as in East Malaysia but it's already starting to happen. Three UMNO reps have jumped ship in Johor, giving Pakatan a 2/3rds majority in that state (unthinkable before the election).

At the time of writing, it's still not clear which side will prevail in Perak. PAS could play the kingmaker role as it has three seats, enough to give either side a majority. However, PAS has been coy about which side it will support. In the end, it might completely lose out if some BN MPs jump ship and join Pakatan, which has 29 seats. Actually, all it needs is 30 to form a majority in the 59 seat assembly so if just one BN lawmaker jumps ship, Pakatan seals it. And PAS is reduced to being a mosquito opposition party in the state.