Mukhriz issue: Back-door approach subverts democracy
In Malaysia, those who come to power through democratic means tend to stay in power through undemocratic means.
from P. Ramasamy, via email
A fundamental principle of any democratic society in resolving political crisis is through the function of the peoples’ assemblies where debate and ultimate decision-making takes place.
Such debates leading to political solutions take place under the larger guidance and adherence to the essential provisions of a country’s Constitution.
Resorting to back door methods and subverting the democratic processes are frowned upon in modern democracies.
In Malaysia, those who come to power through democratic means tend to stay in power through undemocratic means. This is nowhere more relevant in the appointment or removal of the Menteri Besar in such states as Perak, Selangor and lately Kedah.
State assemblies were by-passed for a quick fix to the political problem of appointing or removing a Menteri Besar.
While the Constitution of the country has provided for checks and balances in removing or installing heads of government, the primary task of state assemblies must be primarily adhered to. There is no two ways about it.
In Perak and Kedah, the Umno leadership wanted a quick way to resolve the issue. Umno sought to diffuse the political crises not by taking the matter for a decision in the state assemblies, but by a back-door approach.
The outcome would have been different, in Kedah, although we are not sure, if the matter had been brought to the state assembly to ascertain the support or non-support for Mukhriz Mahathir.
There were divisions within Kedah Umno, and PKR moved away from Pakatan Harapan to support Mukhriz as part of the larger struggle against Najib Razak.
The two DAP state representatives and one Amanah representative took a neutral position, to force the issue to be debated in the state assembly rather than to be dictated by the narrow considerations of the Umno leadership.
The taking of this neutral position should not be interpreted as siding with Najib or being pro-Mukhriz, but rather out of respect for democratic governance. It is only after the debate in the assembly that relevant institutions could take their stand in the removal or the appointment of a new Menteri Besar.
Umno failed or refused to see the larger picture of democratic governance and how such a subversion would become one its biggest nightmares in the subversion of democracy in Malaysia.
While PAS’s opportunism is well-known and there is nothing much to be expected from this political outfit, PKR as an ally of both DAP and Amanah could have assisted in forcing the removal of the Menteri Besar to be debated in the Kedah state assembly.
Anyway, the removal of the former Menteri Besar and the appointment of a new one is not going to signal the end of the “political excitement” in Kedah. Chances are, if a new political alignment could be worked out in the next few weeks or months, then Umno is going to face a serious political crisis not just in Kedah but in the entire nation.
The “old fox” Mahathir Mohammad might be slow, but surely he is not going to keep quiet.
P Ramasamy is Deputy Chief Minister II of Penang.
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