It is not surprising for the five-man Bench of the Federal Court to declare that Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir is the rightful Perak Menteri Besar. It has also confirmed that the earlier speculation is groundless. The court's decision brings a far-reaching consequence. Royal families will play a more important role in determining MB candidates from now on.

And now the power has been returned to BN leaders. Would they ask for the Sultan's permission to dissolve the state assembly in order completely resolve the political impasse?

From the BN's standpoint, as they are having more number of state assemblymen while the Sultan has appointed Zambry as the MB and the court has declared Zambry as the rightful MB, why do they take such a political risk? It is not necessary to do so either.

However, from the democratic point of view, as well as based on the people's will, a by-election is indeed an effective way to turn the situation from confrontation to reconciliation. It can also benefit the Perak people.

If everything returns to the situation before the court's decision is made, the ruling and opposition parties will keep confronting with each other and we can expect another chaos for the next sitting.

The last sitting was held on 28 Oct last year and thus, the next sitting must be held within six months, which means it has to be held by 28 April. The previous two meeting were hastily ended. The Budget was passed without a debate, officials were exempted from being responsible to the state assembly and assemblymen were unable to bring up people's issues. Sooner or later, there will be enforcement bias and administrative oversight.

From the political turmoil in Perak to the opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy trial, protests against Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, Pakatan Rakyat state government buildings being surrounded and attacks of the mainstream media, we can see that UMNO has started another round of attack. It is trying to use a variety of pressure to make Pakatan Rakyat split or collapse. It can be expected that Pakatan Rakyat will not stand still, they will take retaliatory actions for sure.

Anwar has described it as a season of a life and death battle between the ruling and opposition parties. He is ready for the final battle. But how strong is Pakatan Rakyat?

Pakatan Rakyat is currently adopting a defensive strategy. When he was being accused of marginalising Malays, Lim Guan Eng could only hold a press conference to refute with data. And when a few PKR Members of Parliament keep attacking Pakatan Rakyat through the media, PKR could only scold them.

Other than launching attacks, UMNO also pays visits to rural areas. For example, UMNO leaders walked into non-Malay communities and meet Chinese association leaders in conjunction with the "Champion of the People" campaign. Even government agencies are going to visit Chinese organisations. UMNO is using both soft and hard tactics with carrot for the people and stick for Pakatan Rakyat.

What will be the counterattack tactic of Pakatan Rakyat? I think other than giving talks, they may hold more demonstrations, protests and mass rallies to approach the people.

The battle will deepen the hatred between the ruling and opposition parties and cause another political chaos. Leaders of both the ruling and opposition parties are not able to walk out from "the myth of the lust for power" and bring the country to a higher level. The confidence of foreign investors will, too, continue to slump.

When the politics is sinking down, all transformation and economic stimulus plans suggested by the BN government will end up wasted. (By LIM SUE GOAN/Translated by SOONG PHUI JEE/Sin Chew Daily)