Why no extradition request for Sirul?

Apparently Jho Low is in a country where he can't be extradited.

Sirul Azhar Umar, however, is in a country where we could ask for him to be extradited. There was even a news report out of the UK that said that Sirul's extradition has been approved. Turns out this wasn't true. But it naturally begs the question: Why hasn't an extradition request been made?

Zahid visits Dr M

An uneasy smile from Zahid. Dr M doesn't even pretend to be enjoying this at all.

So, Zahid Hamidi has visited Dr M. Trying to make peace? Dr M may be diplomatic but he has a good memory.

The Sarawak exodus has begun

This is not unexpected. Apparently, PBB in Sarawak will leave BN. It might not necessarily be a part of Pakatan as there are objections for Pakatan Sarawak about that. But it will probably be a party friendly to Pakatan.

Why? Not because it loves Pakatan per se. It's pragmatism. Nobody wants to be with the losing side.

According to this news report, UMNO acting president Zahid Hamidi pleaded to PBB President Abang Johari Openg (who is also the Sarawak chief minister) not to leave, saying BN would be "hancur" destroyed if PBB were to leave.

Abang Johari's reply was classic. He said PBB that could be destroyed in the 2021 state polls if it did not distance itself from BN’s excesses and corruption.

If PBB goes through with this, that's 13 seats that BN will lose. But that's not the end of it. Once PBB leaves, other BN-affiliated parties in Sarawak will probably leave too, namely Parti Rakyat Sarawak, Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP) and Progressive Development Party. The pro-BN United People's Party may also change its mind on whether it wants to continue to be pro-BN.

PBB had won 13 seats, PRS three, PDP two and SUPP won one. That's 19 seats in all, going out the BN window, if they all leave.

Fixed deposit in Sabah already gone. Fixed deposit in Sarawak soon to be gone. Hancur indeed.

This is why politically-controlled papers can't change

Two articles about Utusan. The headlines say it all:

Utusan looks to ‘rebuild from scratch’ with VSS, says report.

We’ll continue defending Malays, Islam, says defiant Utusan editor.

The never ending Perlis saga

Just when you thought it was really over, here's news that the Perlis MB imbroglio will continue.

Apparently, UMNO is trying to have its cake and eat it too. It wants to avoid appearing to defy the ruler by agreeing to his choice of MB but at the same time it wants to take the matter to court because it has the Constitution on its side.

Is it going to concede or does it want the court to force the ruler to concede? UMNO can't seem to make up its mind on the matter.

There is a third possibility which might come to haunt UMNO which is that snap polls are called. If that happens as a result of this imbroglio, UMNO will live to regret it because it could very well lose its control over the state. The good folks of Perlis, as well as the rest of the country (including East Malaysia) have woken up to a new dawn and a new reality, one in which BN is in the opposition at the federal level.