DAP Buntong assemblyman A. Sivasubramaniam is a farce to resign and retract his resignation within seven hours.

It was really disappointing for Buntong voters who voted for DAP as the assemblyman they voted wanted to resign just because he was discontented with state chief Ngeh Koo Ham for not appointing two Indian assemblymen as exco members.

However, he made a dramatic turn seven hours later to retract his resignation, claiming that it was just a “misunderstanding”. Clearly, it was a rash and hasty decision.

Somehow, Sivasubramaniam's quitting announcement caused a cold sweat among leaders of the Perak coalition government formed by three opposition parties – DAP, PKR and PAS as any minor change might lead to the change of the state regime.

Before the 12th general elections, DAP Batu Gajah MP Fong Poh Kuan quit but after persuaded by party leaders, she changed her mind six days later. And after the elections, Sivasubramaniam shocked the party with his decision to resign but as well retracted his resignation after being persuaded by party leaders. It was really confusing as two similar incidents happened within two months in Pearak DAP.

Yesterday, people could really feel the precarious situation of Perak coalition government, which gained the state regime with only a three seat majority, as they heard the quit news of Sivasubramaniam on the first day of work for Perak exco members.

In the recent elections, Barisan Rakyat formed by three opposition parties managed to gain 31 state seats out of 59 in Perak, while BN gained only 28 seats. This led to the change of the state regime. Thus, any assemblyman switching sides will probably tip the balance.

The Barisan Rakyat state government was not expected to do well from the beginning as it gained the regime with only three seats majority. The selection of state MB and the distribution of exco members were full of twists and turns. We could see from various aspects that the three parties were trying their best to negotiate, hoping to find a solution that meet their requirements.

As for the distribution for ten Perak exco members, there are six from DAP, three from PKR and one from PAS, with only one Indian. Thus, Sivasubramaniam expressed his discontentment in his letter faxed to DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, saying that there should be two Indian exco members in Perak.

The crisis has been resolved for now as Sivasubramaniam retracted his resignation and claimed it was just a “misunderstanding”. However, this multi-racial coalition government would have to be very cautious in all position distribution in the future. (By XIE SHAO HUI (謝紹輝)/ Translated by SOONG PHUI JEE/ Sin Chew Daily)