Eluding a Parliament of baboons

The current administration must prioritise some strategic institutional reforms that must be undertaken for their own good

THE circus is back. Political heavyweights are throwing their weight around, pronouncing their support for a movement with an avowed claim to fortify the Malay hegemony in Malaysia.

Nothing wrong with that. Malay unity is good. So is Chinese unity or Indian unity or Kadazan unity. Unity is always good, as long as the intended end in mind benefits the majority as well as the nation at large.

The action seems to revolve around two seasoned hands of Malaysian politics. The centre of gravity seems to be the residence of a former prime minister (PM) and the corporate headquarters of a tycoon, who was once a minister. The latter is a king maker of sorts, rumoured to have had a hand in key political manoeuvres over the years.

If things go their way, there will be another change of guard at Putrajaya. Malaysia will get a new government and possibly a new PM. That would be the fifth PM since the shock defeat of the Barisan Nasional (BN) government led by Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Razak in 2018.

If indeed the power brokers have secured enough lawmakers to their side, the one major stumbling block is the anti-hopping law. This legislation has clipped the wings of MPs elected at the 15th General Election (GE15) held on Nov 19, 2022.

This pivotal legislation is the result of the push for institutional reforms not too distant ago. It was when the Pakatan Harapan (PH) lawmakers were seated on the Opposition side of the Dewan Rakyat, the lower house of Parliament. They managed to extract that legislation for their support to the then government of the day under PM Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

It turned out to be a master-stroke. This piece of legislation, requiring an amendment to the Federal Constitution, has proven to be a fly in the ointment to efforts to derail the government under PM Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

If not for the law enshrined in Constitutional (Amendment) (No 3) Act 2022, you would literally have a Parliament of baboons at the moments, with lawmakers swinging from one side to the other, possibly enticed with money, position or whatever that tickles the Yang Berhormat under target. The so-called Sheraton Move is a classic example. A group of disgruntled MPs walked away, causing the collapse of the PH government that unseated the mighty BN.

The entire spectacle can still happen, though. The new law may stop a single MP from switching sides, but it does not stop an entire party from switching its allegiance.

And then there’s this talk lately of lawmakers from the government side simply walking to the other side of the aisle, forcing a by-election. If you have enough MPs doing it, you can undermine the current government.

Soon, people will be pulling out their calculators, and the number 222 will show up constantly in their calculations. That’s the number of seats in the Dewan Rakyat.

Still, it is this piece of legislative work that is keeping at bay another spectacle at the August House. It underlines the importance of legislative reform.

To move forward, Malaysia requires strong institutions, not political superheroes. It’s great to have good leaders. But that’s a bonus. What is more important — nay, critical really — is strong and credible institutions.

Malaysia does not need saviours in individual politicians. They may shine today, falter tomorrow. They come, and they go.

What this nation desperately needs is to repair and strengthen institutions so vital to the effective and efficient functioning of the nation. There are a good many institutional reforms needed. Too many, actually.

We need a solution to the perennial problem of political financing. This may be a low hanging fruit.

In the run-up to the GE15, PH and BN had both pledged to introduce political financing regulations. This will solve some of the suspected wheeling and dealing that politicians are forced to do in order to finance their parties.

We need to sort out how key appointments are done. We have to involve Parliament when making appointments to positions like the attorney-general (AG), chief justice and the heads of outfits like the Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) governor, Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). This can make a huge difference as you would then have, hopefully, credible people leading these important organisations.

Then, there is the longstanding call to separate the public prosecution function from the AG. And more. So, Saudara Anwar, do pay heed to the immediate need for institutional reforms.

Having said that, I’m no idealist to the point of being blind to the ground political realities. Anwar is running a fragile government, cobbled from quarters violently allergic to each other just before the last elections.

So, we understand that some of these reforms will require hard bargaining. The chips so desperately required may not be in his corner. We understand. We must be realistic.

Still, institutional reform must go on. The current administration must prioritise some strategic institutional reforms that must be undertaken for their own good. Just like how the anti-hopping law has allowed them to stay in power.

With willpower and some elbow grease, the so-called unity government may just survive the coming political monsoon.