Should Manoharan be released?

Yesterday, M. Manoharan said that he is most likely to resign. The Kota Alam Shah assemblyman who won the seat while under ISA detention cited his feelings of guilt and inability to serve his constituents as the main reasons for his decision.

If he quits, it would pave the way for yet another by-election, the 7th in the country in just 14 months after the General Election. Too many by-election is unnecessary, many agreed on that since it involves too much time and money to be spent. The government should now focus on the current economic challenges.

However, the opposition parties are trying to maintain the political temperature as their strategy. They believe that this will benefit them, at least until the next GE. In the previous 5 by-elections, BN has only succeeded in defending the state seat in Batang Ai. BN lost the Parliamentary seat in Kuala Terengganu and failed to regain 3 seats that were lost to PR during the 12th GE. The PR coalition will now continue to set series of by-election in order to create impression that BN is losing control.

Today, saying it is an election that DAP does not wish to have, Tony Pua (DAP Information Chief) urged Home Minister to immediately release Manoharan, who is still being detained under the ISA - to avoid the by-election.

Well, it will be another tough decision to be made by Hishamuddin Hussein. If Manoharan be released, the 'unnecessary' by-election could be avoided but on the other hand it will also create impression that BN is losing control.