Government and Politics

Like most people, I have many competing and overlapping loyalties. I am loyal to my family. I try to be loyal to my faith. And to my country: I recite the Rukunegara as enthusiastically as I belt out Negaraku (the original majestic version), and I wish the dotted quavered Berkatlah Yang di-Pertuan Besar and harmonically simple Allah Daulatkan Tuanku Sultan were more often sung. I have pledged some loyalty to various organisations by virtue of being employed by them, and I’m loyal to my friends with whom I have grown up.

Uncertainty and frustration aren’t the ingredients of a stable and prosperous democracy, but every cloud has a silver lining, and it’s encouraging at least to witness the chorus of disapproval of the recent goings-on, for it may reflect a growing desire that policy issues and ideas should be at the forefront of politics, instead of the personalities and egos of individual men.

For a maturing democracy like ourselves, it’s vital that we raise awareness of how important parliament actually is, and if a little bit of drama means that it gets splashed on more pages than usual, or placed in the middle of the hip hop segment, then I think that’s a good thing. Parliament is sovereign; meaning that it passes the laws that enable or disable dissent, it approves or censures where the government wants to take us, and to an extent can set the tone and influence the culture of our nation. The powers exercised by the Prime Minister and Cabinet derive from Parliament, not the other way round.

It seems every time a backbencher in this country shows any sign of bravery or overt independence, they are either slapped down by party supremos or otherwise dissuaded. It would be wrong to encourage opposition for its own sake, but its occasional occurrence is a nonetheless a reassuring sign that our legislature has truly risen above playground antics.

Earlier this month I was in Hong Kong to attend a conference between think tanks from the Pacific Rim. Most of the delegates were from the US, a few were from China and there were smatterings from Peru, Nepal and Australia. I was the only participant from Malaysia, representing the Malaysia Think Tank London. What brought us together was our underlying objective: we’re all trying to inculcate ideas of liberty and free markets in our own countries.

The 2008 elections left us with the opportunity to strengthen liberal democratic institutions in our country. In particular, we now have a golden opportunity to reinforce the institution of parliament, to strengthen the practise of federalism, and to allow internal democracy to flourish within political parties, particularly in UMNO. Despite all the criticisms towards him, the "side-effect" of his premiership style is good for liberal democracy in our country. The irony is, it may have been done unintentionally.

It may be true that political parties select their candidates, but it is the voters who decide which individual gets to represent them, and as such the first duty of the MP is to represent the constituents, not the party. If parliamentarians feel that they can better serve their constituents by dissociating with their party or by joining another one, they are free to do so; and indeed a previous attempt to prevent party-hopping was judged unconstitutional in 1992.

It is easy to succumb to hyperbole after what might initially seem to be seismic shifts. But I do not hesitate to add my falsetto to the growing chorus declaring a political tsunami.

The first thing to do is to congratulate all new and returning members of the Dewan Rakyat and state assemblies. Every one of them should now be fully aware that what the rakyat giveth, they can taketh away. Over the next few days there will be page upon page dwelling on what went so dreadfully wrong, or screen upon screen dwelling upon what went so fantastically right. There will be ink splashed on how BN will adjust with the drubbing of the MCA and MIC, and there will be pixels dancing to how the DAP, PKR and PAS will form a long-term working relationship with one another.

In Britain, the Muslim minority is demanding that they are treated as equals. Things are not much different for ethnic minorities in Malaysia. Just like minority Muslims in Britain, the minority non-Muslims in Malaysia too are asking to be treated as equals.

Although Islam is a blessing to mankind, many Muslims (not all), and some Muslim groups (not all) are simply a disaster to mankind. They seek to impose their beliefs on others. They want to coerce others into living the way of life that they define as acceptable. Even within the Muslim communities - and note that I am saying Muslim communities in the plural because I do not believe there is only one interpretation of Islam - they say you must follow their interpretation because they know best what Islam is.

In short, we have living amongst us, Muslims who believe in coercion and imposition, not just coercing non-Muslims into living lives the way they say, but also coercing Muslims into subscribing to their version of Islam.