A clear political programme is vital
The people no longer want draconian behaviour from those in power and are extremely tired of politicians bending the law in their favour.
LET’S get a few political facts correct about our country. Firstly, ours is a constitutional monarchy within the framework of democracy. Secondly, we have a written constitution which forms the social contract between the citizens as to how the country is to be managed generally. Thirdly, the majority of the polity are Malays and Muslims while we are a multicultural and multi-religious society.
The Pakatan Government is made up of Pribumi, PKR, DAP and Amanah. It is interesting to note that for the first time in Malaysian political history, the Prime Minister is not from the dominant political party. Obviously, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is the Prime Minister because the Agung is satisfied that he commands the majority support of the members of parliament.
Thereafter, it is agreed between the Pakatan coalition members that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will take over the helm of Prime Minister. At that juncture, the Agung will then have to be satisfied that Datuk Sri Anwar Ibrahim commands the majority support of the members of parliament.
It is equally interesting to note the observations of Clive Kessler, Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of New South Wales in Sydney: “The five-party Harapan coalition is an improbable combination of social democratic secularists, traditionalist Muslims, moderate Islamists, Malay nationalists and local-rights-championing east Malaysian nativists”.
This observation may have important political consequences on the overall “philosophy’ of the Pakatan Government because of the diversity of political philosophies of these coalition members. Due to this, Clive asks a valid question, “Will they find the discipline, judgement and good sense as well as the clear political programme to keep them in power?
Once the honeymoon period is over, each of the political parties will be answerable to their own party members who would want to see the ideals of their party objectives implemented. This will be the time where each of the party will have to address its own political philosophy. Pribumi will have the least of its problem in this regard being a new party. However, DAP, PKR and Amanah have been around for a longer time and would have set political programs, philosophy and objectives.
To be in power and usefully in power, they must be able to come up with a “Malaysian political programme” by consensus among themselves first. It cannot and will not be business as usual until the component parties of the new government have a common political direction which is acceptable to the citizens of Malaysia. It is the practicality and utility of the common political programme among the component party members that will determine its survivability and long term acceptability by the people of Malaysia.
The obvious ostensible advantage of the composition of the current cabinet is that they are made up of politicians who have been on the “other side” most of their political life. They had been accessible to the people and had been the voice of the people’s objections to government policies and actions. They know the feeling of being excluded from contributing to the nation. They should understand the pain of being silenced.
If they keep these experiences alive in their consciousness, then I believe they would have got their mental state right to begin the journey of reform. They would not now behave in ways they felt were unjust before they came into power. Politicians habitually focus on making political scores while statesman focus on what is good for the nation as a whole.
Now that they are the government, it is left to be seen if they will succumb to the traditional behavior of government – primarily exuding power and authority – or still maintain the people friendly attitude, accessibility, elegant humility, tolerant of dissenting views and most importantly, able to formulate and implement policies that would benefit the general population.
Politics is about power and the law is the mechanism through which the power is exercised. People will be watching how the law will be applied and what legal reforms will be made in order to empower the people and benefit the nation.
The law should always be justly applied regardless of the party concerned as enshrined in Article 8(1) of the Federal Constitution which guarantees that every citizen is equal before the law. People did not make the political change so that politicians continue to always have the upper hand when it comes to the application of laws. Hence, the people will not take it lightly if they sense that the law is applied unequally between ordinary citizens and politicians.
I think the message of PRU14 is clear: the people no longer want draconian behavior from those in power. They are also extremely tired of politicians bending the law in their favour. At least that was the perception for decades.