My point-of-view is very simple – being an elected representative one must not leave without notice as he/she is representing thousands of constituents. I could accept if the person would like to cross over to another political entity, but not if they would like to go missing in action.

So when the two Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) state assemblymen from Perak; Jamaluddin Mat Radzi of Behrang and Mohd Osman Jailu of Changkat Jering, were found missing even by the Perak Menteri Besar himself, I found this rather appalling.

Did these two people work in a company before? Or were they a boss previously? Even more they have to acknowledge that if an employee fails to report to work for 3 days without notice, they could possibly be terminated. We were told to let our immediate superior know if we were to be on medical, or emergency leave for that matter. 

Jamaluddin Mat Radzi said, he was on medical leave, but why did he never inform the Perak Menteri Besar? He may have problem with PKR leaders, but being a part of the state administration, he should be more responsible. Judging from his excuse, I thought as if he was one of the newly-joined inexperienced non-executives at a company.

He also said to BERNAMA,

"The undated letter was signed by seven PKR state assemblymen because they feared we would join Barisan Nasional. It looks like they had used the letter to paint a false impression that we had resigned.”

Again, how old is he? 52 years old, isn’t he? Did he ever know the fact when we sign a letter of undertaking, we are bound by its terms and conditions until the contract ends? To state the undated letter was signed under duress since March 2008, and it was mentioned now after it was kept mum for almost a year, is simply ridiculous and unacceptable.

If he never brought to justice for an alleged crime of accepting bribes over the application for a RM180 million housing project in Iskandar Tengah, and subsequently he was gone missing until he was stripped of his status as a state assemblyman, would he cry foul over the letter?

He also did not want to divulge further on his whereabouts during the missing person. Is he a responsible elected representative? Don’t be an icon if we do not want people to know where we are going. Some privilege does come with certain responsibility; especially we are elected by the people to represent them in a state assembly or parliament.

He also said to BERNAMA,

“My problems are with PKR leaders, not with the people of Behrang. I will not simply shirk my responsibilities to them,” he said.

Well buddy, in my humble opinion, you already shirked your responsibility when you went into hiding for few days.

I support the move by the Perak State Legislative Assembly Speaker, V. Sivakumar to announce the seats held by the duo vacant. In my humble opinion, it serves irresponsible state assemblymen right.

To the Election Commission, just give the people of Behrang and Changkat a new by-election respectively. Jamaluddin Mat Radzi, and Mohd Osman Jailu are welcomed to join the fray to vie for the seats, even as independent candidates. If constituents think they serve them well, and they are  the victims of dirty politics, they would be honourably re-elected. Furthermore, unlike Nasarudin Hashim of Bota, they have signed an undated letter to resign if they were to leave the party.  If I were to be a local constituent, I would say, my elected representative is mature and responsible enough to make a stand under any circumstances as that is what a leader do – to lead, sign any contract, and duly accept its repercussions, either now, or in the next election.

By-elections? Bring them on!