Government by the law, or by the rule of law

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The casting of votes is the only method to restore parliamentary democracy. — Bernama photo

THE federal government of Malaysia changed hands in March 2020 via what had been referred to as the ‘Sheraton Move’ – a political coup d’état staged by members of Parliament from within the same government formed by a coalition of parties known as Pakatan Harapan (PH).

In my column in March of that year, I expressed the hope that this changing of horses in mid-stream via the will expressed in the Statutory Declaration should be treated as the first and the last.

Any government based on the will of the parliamentarians expressed only in the Statutory Declaration is the government by the law.

Many Sarawakians still remember that during the 100-year of rule of the English Rajahs, the government was by the Rajah’s Orders. These were their laws. Sarawak experienced rule of law during a short colonial rule when the local government elections produced the first-ever democratically-elected legislature and a self-government on July 22, 1963.

Since the formation of the Federation for Malaysia, of which Sarawak has become a part of since September 1963, it has become the tradition to change governments via the ballot box. The will of the voters expressed during a free and fair general election has produced governments by the rule of law.

The parliamentary democracy adopted by Malaya, and in 1963 by Malaysia, has been inherited from Great Britain. Except for a couple of hiccups, it has worked for us for 50 years.

It is not the best form of government in the world, but it is the most practicable.

Well, government via Statutory Declarations has happened again! For lack of a better term, I shall call it ‘Sheraton 2.0’. Let there be no more necessity for a third or a fourth version of what has been rudely called the ‘back door’ or ‘Tebuk Atap’ government for Malaysia.

Having three prime ministers in three years is way too many!

The first government through the Statutory Declaration lasted for only about 17 months. The immediate past-prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, bowed out to extreme pressures of allegations of his government’s failure in handling the Covid-19 situation, and alleged incompetence in turning the economy around. But the coup de grace was the pulling out of the carpet from under Muhyiddin’s feet mid-August. An internal arrangement, in sailor’s language, of the captain being sent down to his cabin during stormy weather, and the First Mate taking the helm.

A new Malaysian Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, has been appointed. He was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence in the previous Federal Cabinet. So it is fair to assume that he has a lot of experience in combating the coronavirus. He must have seen the deployment of the most effective weapons and he knew how to get them – or how some previous measures, perhaps, had not been so effective.

Now that he is in full command of the ship of state, there is no reason to doubt that he and his mates should not be able to finish off the common enemy very soon.

This captain is a smart. He has called upon some help from other experienced skippers, marooned for the time being, for some ideas with which to weather the storm. In the end, the credit would be partly his, once the ship is in calmer waters.

Less party politics

There aren’t many new faces in the new Cabinet. In the soccer terminology – the same old team in new jerseys! Wondering who will be the star scorers!

The modus operandi of the team may be different from the approaches adopted by the previous cabinet. This time around, the priorities must be right – less assertiveness on party ideology and more focus on winning strategy, science and facts, against the common enemy. Win that war by all available means and the economy would slowly pick up again, when there would be less and less restrictions or controls of movement of people, and when more and more people get their jobs back. With more jobs secured, there would be more purchasing power among the people. Working on reviving the small and medium businesses fast would be a good start.

And once the supply chain returns to normal, the larger economy would kickstart, so I have been lectured by a hard-nosed businessman.

A need for political stability

In The Borneo Post issue on Aug 20, I read about an urgent appeal by Chris Daniel Wong, treasurer-general of the Federation of Malaysian Business Association, urging the new government to work towards political stability fast. The foreign investors are watching us before they have confidence in investing in our country.

Recovery plans

Billions of ringgit have been budgeted for the implementation of the various Prihatin schemes and recovery plans. These remain to be fully implemented on the ground. Everybody expects the new team at Putrajaya to manage those resources impartially. Hopefully, their efforts would pull us out of this quagmire before the next general election. Otherwise, we would be talking about the same old things ad nauseam.

Down with the virus

It is said that a new broom sweeps well. This particular ‘broom’ is not entirely new, but it looks serious enough to act as new.

Together, let us deal with the virus fast – tests, diagnoses, vaccinations, treatment. We should be able to win the war against the coronavirus soon if we could pull together in one direction:
i. down with Covid-19 and its variants, and;
ii. get on the road of economic recovery.

People believing in the parliamentary system of government would throw their support if the Election Commission (EC) is working on the standard operating procedures (SOP) for the general election.
The government must get a fresh mandate to govern – by the rule of law.

The federal government must be in good hands this time around. And it would be healthy for the system if the responsibility of the top federal leadership could be shared among capable members of Parliament from both Sarawak and Sabah – by giving them a fair share in the sphere of influence in terms of policy discussions and implementation, as well as an increased role in government and administration.

Let’s see how the Easterners would perform.

That is about all that we, the ordinary mortals, wish to see for the immediate future – some positive results within the next 100 days.
‘Bolehkah’? (Can we?)

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