KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 — Senior Barisan Nasional lawmaker Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah today urged his colleagues to defer to their conscience and not the will of their political masters, stressing that their responsibility as MPs lie with the people and country.

He said the time has come for members of the Dewan Rakyat to choose whether they will fulfill their oaths taken when they first took up office as MPs or relinquish their rights as elected representatives to external powers.

“This decision that must be made is a fundamental decision for the rakyat,” he said when debating the Royal Address.

“It becomes a historical moment for my fellow MPs who must decide whether to serve and defer to the will of the rakyat or the collective will of their political leadership,” he added.

Razaleigh stressed that the country is now faced with an unprecedented situation where the country’s economy and institutions empowered to uphold rule of law and parliamentary democracy have deteriorated along with the rapid erosion of national unity.

He claimed that the situation came about due to a shift in power in Parliament towards the leadership of political parties.

“The shift of power to an individual goes against Constitutional provisions. And it surely is not a Constitutional democracy,” he said, without naming any party or individual leader.

Razaleigh, who is currently the longest serving MP, claimed that the country is now in a crisis that has seeped into grassroots communities, leading to a political and economic “gridlock”.

“This situation presents an opportunity to the Dewan Rakyat to play an important role in the nation’s development. No other institution be it political or non-political can overcome this gridlock apart from the members of the House.

“This means we must have the courage to accept or reject a proposal in the interest of the rakyat that we represent even if it may go against the will of our party.

“At the same time we must also act as a group and as a team in service to uphold the sovereignty of the rakyat and voters,” he said.