Missing lawmaker, poison-pen books and graft probe fuel speculation
'After Perak, we can't say anything with certainty but there's no way to shake our majority.'
Parti Keadilan Rakyat vice-president R. Sivarasa on the 'disappearance' of assemblyman Badrul Hisham Abdullah and the possibility of defections
By Carolyn Hong, The Straits Times
WILL Selangor be the next opposition state to fall to the Barisan Nasional (BN)?
Speculation about the possibility is swirling wildly, especially after a Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) assemblyman, Mr Badrul Hisham Abdullah, apparently 'vanished'.
This is reminiscent of the toppling of Perak in February, which occurred after three defectors went missing for days.
Mr Badrul, the state assemblyman for Port Klang, had been in trouble with his party for skipping assembly sittings, and has been near uncontactable.
'This is a discipline issue. We are dealing with it within the party,' PKR vice-president R. Sivarasa told The Straits Times.
He would not rule out a defection but insisted that even if it happened, it would not jeopardise the opposition Pakatan Rakyat's control of Selangor.
The three-party Pakatan Rakyat alliance - comprising PKR, the Democratic Action Party (DAP) and Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) - holds 36 seats against BN's 20 seats.
At least eight MPs have to defect, in order for the state government to break up.
The speculation heightened this week after the problems with Mr Badrul, but the issue has been causing a buzz for weeks.
It started after BN upped its attacks on the PR, using Islam to drive a wedge between PAS and DAP.
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