Protecting the royals and firewalling the people of Malaysia — Rais Hussin

NOVEMBER 8 — 1. Only 4.5 per cent of the world's global population of seven billion people live under some kind of full or semi democracy, where elections can be held, and transitions of power permitted, when the incumbent loses its reins of power. The figure, derived from the Freedom Index, is arrived by the Heritage Foundation in Washington but repeated by The Economist in London.

2. What made the report credible was extent to which it was critical of the state of the United States' too, where it's actual standing in the League of Democracies has floundered since the November 2016 election of President Donald Trump.

3. What is left unsaid is the complexity and unique-ness of the royal Institutions. Where monarchs continue to remain as the ceremonial or even constitutional heads of democratic governments, these are the countries that can remain stable — even if the democratic transition is potentially feeble and fraught with risks.

4. On May 9, 2018, Malaysia was one of the first countries, in a long time, to defeat Umno and it's coalition of Barisan National. The new government, under Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed is Pakatan Harapan or the Alliance of Hope.

5. Despite the risky transition of power, the King of Malaysia, and his fellow sultans from nine states that formed the Federation of Malaysia in addition to various British Straits Settlements and two other states of Borneo, namely Sabah and Sarawak, agreed to back the premiership of Dr Mahathir.

6. While it is easy to say that "the rest is history," the fact is May 9 has produced a different kind of democratic Malaysia. One might notice that the LGBT community has become more assertive, with or without any evidence if they actually voted in the 14th general election.

7. One might also notice that the remnants of Umno and PAS, who to this day, remain in denial, that they are rejected by the people, from time to time, insist that they carry the torch and hopes of the country.

8. Take the recent view of Datuk Seri Najib Razak, the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, who nearly brought the country to sheer moral and financial opprobrium. Najib affirmed, quite unabashedly, that he "no longer wants to be the president of Umno or the Prime Minister of Malaysia." Did it ever cross his mind that it was the people of Malaysia and his own members in Umno who do not want him to be around anymore?

9. Yet, in the frenzied political atmosphere of 3N — negation, neutralisation and nullification of all that Umno and Barisan National ever stood for — it is easy to get carried along with the belief, consequently, a false one that the royal institutions, too, must be subject to the same scrutiny.

10. While Malaysia has no laws on "less majeste” Malaysia does have a Federal Constitution that has Article 153, and other of the such, that protects the rights and privileges of the Malays, without sacrificing the rights of the Non Malays living in domicile in the country as fellow citizens.

11. These are articles that are reflected in the party Constitution of Bersatu, which consequently, allowed Bersatu to drive a stake through the heart of Umno and PAS on May 9, 2018. Instead of protecting the rights of the Malays, Umno and PAS switched to their own self preservation, by forming electoral pact, to split the Malay votes to benefit themselves.

12. Despite these shenanigans, to which they continued to deny to this day, they lost the reins of office and power. With the exception of the state government of Trengganu and Kelantan, which PAS could hold on to, the duo lost their entire Game of Throne.

13. Sadly, and ironically, the triumphalism of the people over the long odds, has also been transformed occasionally into a wild and erratic line against the royal institutions. Such behaviour online, or in hushed whispers, must stop, without which Malaysia would not have a robust constitutional monarchy driven by system of what Dutch political scientist Arend Liphard called a "consociational democracy."

14. In the former, the politics of the country are driven by the respect granted both to the Federal Constitution and monarchy (ie the nine sultans and the king who is elected among them). In the latter, each race and ethnic group, should they so wish, articulate their voices and values through the respective political parties that may seem it fit to represent the Malays or Chinese or Indians born in the country. This of course does not obviate the importance of the Kadazans, Bajaus, Dayaks, Muruts, Melanaus, Penans, and other groups too.

15. Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia or Bersatu has tried to choose the middle road of defending all and sundry, from the Kings to the Malays right down to the common rakyat in both sides of Malaysia across the South China Sea.

16. This is reflected in the Cabinet appointments of Prime Minister Dr Mahathir soon after the victory of Pakatan Harapan of May 9. The Minister of Finance is Lim Guan Eng, a Malaysian of ethnic Chinese stock, whereas the Minister of Economic Affairs is Datuk Seri Azmin Ali. Indeed, the Minister of Human Resources is M Kulasegaran, while the Minister of Multimedia and Communication is Gobind Singh Deo. The Minister of International Trade and Industry is Darryl Leiking from Sabah, while the strategic electoral partner of the ruling government of Pakatan Harapan was Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal, of Bajau descent, who is now the Chief Minister of Sabah.

17. Of course, the Deputy Prime Minister is Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, while Teressa Kok is the Minister of Primary Industries. The list goes on and on but it is the equivalent of the Rainbow Coalition of Ministers under Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.

18. Given such circumstances, and colourful combo, that has further produced a successful first budget on November 4, within six months of clearing up the kleptocratic excesses of the previous administration, what one should not — and must not — do is to bring in acrimonious elements of race, religions and royalties through divisive politics.

19. Yet, such agent provocateurs clearly do exist, and thrive, in the internet of Malaysia. Be they sporadic or systematic comments that run into flowing essay(s), some have taken the royalties in particular to task.

20. This is done often in the name of Dr Mahathir, the first commoner to be re-elected twice to the Prime Minister's Office, yet throughout the political career of Dr Mahathir, he has never indulged in any form of anti monarchical or Republican politics. To the degree laws and legislations were needed to bring some degree of parity and fairness to the Federal Constitution, or constitutional monarchy, as was the case in 1983, and again in 1994, Dr Mahathir merely emphasised the importance of the rule of law, not rule above and beyond law.

21. Take the sultanate of Perak, for instance. Despite the clear separation of power and politics, Sultan Nazrin Shah was one of the first to launch his veiled criticism of corruption in 2015. Other sultans, such as the royal households of Kelantan, Johor and Negeri Sembilan, did not retreat to their respective chambers either.

22. At critical points in time, the Sultan of Johor and his crown prince, spoke out against the racial excesses of Jamal Yunus, the leader of the far right of Umno. By tamping Jamal Yunus down, the notorious elements of Umno could not surface at all. May 9, in this sense, was as much a victory for the royalties as it was for the Rakyat.

23. Elsewhere, even when projects like Forrest City in Johor were subject to greater scrutiny, the Sultanate of Johor did not encourage Country Heights, a public listed company of Hong Kong, that is a major property investor in mainland China and Malaysia, to over react. Facts and figures were trudged out to recalibrate the narrative, so that more foreign direct investment (FDI) from all corners of the world would stream their way into the whole country.

24. Indeed, when the victory is claimed at the ballot box — without the shot of a single bullet to say the least — it is easy to lull oneself into believing that it was the rakyat alone that did it. Yet, at many points leading up to May 9, and after, the sultans encouraged the people to exercise their freedom of expression and assembly too. Bersih I, II, III, IV and V were all bathed in yellow — colour of the royalties. Did any one of the sultans oppose the colour? No. This alone should allow Malaysians from all walks of life to know that Malaysian sultans and Agong were extremely receptive to the people's power, as long as they do not run over into an orgy of violence. Here one must see the contrast provided by the Arab Spring in 2001 and the Malaysian democratic opening in 2018.

25. When the Middle East was consumed by the aftermath of the Arab Spring in 2011, one strategic trend was both apparent and obvious: Whereas Republican states likes Egypt, Libya and Syria, fell into prolonged conflicts, even coups and pith fights in the streets, the likes of those in Morocco, Bahrain and Kuwait were spared. Why?

26. Research by the Legatum Institute in Netherlands, and the Economist Unit, knew why. There was no power vacuum in those three countries that had some semblance of royal institutions in place.

27. Instead of the mobs against the state, and the state against the people, such dynamics were absent in countries that had the benefit of being governed by the monarchs.

28. Malaysia, one must remember, is a collection of nine Sultans, several former Straits Settlements and two states of Borneo. It is a pastiche of different entities.

29. It is also concurrently, a post colonial and NON colonial entity. While the Portuguese, Dutch and the British, may have ruled over the whole of Tanah Melayu, which formed the earlier remnants of Malaysia, Sultanates like Kedah, Perak, Johor, Negeri Sembilan, Kelantan, and Pahang, had little or no colonial accoutrements bearing down on them. They remain in existence, complete with their century long customs and traditions.

30. Thus between 1511 and 1957, the sultanates enjoy different form of relationship with the colonial overlords. When Britain proposed the formation of a country, devoid of any regal respect of the royalties, the Malays Rose in unison to launch what is known as the "hartal" or boycott movement. The key was to send a message to London that any formation of a Federation must first protect the rights of the Malays and the rulers to which they respect.

31. On May 9, the vigour and vibrancy of the people was again in full display. Instead of coming under the dominion of a kleptocracy that was Umno, the people objected to its excesses. They rallied around, and against, the grand larceny of 1MDB.

32. In fact, one should note the original formation of 1MDB was the Trengganu Investment Authority (TIA). But the Sultan of Trengganu refused to endorse it. Thus TIA became 1MDB. Scores of research by Clare Rewcastle Brown and Bradley Hope and Tom Wright have confirmed this point. The royalties refused to submit themselves to the theft of the few against the rakyat.

33. At critical point in the run up to May 9, the sultanate of Johor, affirmed the importance of "Bangsa Johor" to firewall itself from the obscenities of 1MDB, when the royal household could just have glibly — and wisely — been referring to Bangsa Malaysia. As things were, Johor the birth place of Umno fell head first, and the rest of Umno throughout the country, could not generate any moral authority to insist on their right of perpetual domination over the whole of the country.

34. Indeed, one must remember the fragility of Malaysia, had Johor not been the (royal) mainstay to remind everyone that the state refused to allow the country to crash and burn, that would engulf "Bangsa Johor," the election date of May 9, 2018 could have been intentionally moved to May 13, 2018.

35. The motivation of Umno and PAS, none other, was to resurrect the ghost of the riots of the prior May 13, 1967, one that witnessed the worst racial bloodletting in the country. Had that plan been carried forward, the electoral turn out could have been low, thus, neutralising a Malay and Malaysian tsunami.

36. Yet May 13, 2018 fell on a Sunday. Umno was spooked by its own ghost. In 2013, Umno and Barisan National nearly lost the entire government on a general election that was scheduled on a Saturday. Clearly, they did not want a repeat of the spectre of being defeated on a weekend.

37. Thus the 14th general election was called on a mid week, a Wednesday, not least, to curtail the enthusiasm of the rakyat. This did not work, to be sure, as Umno and Barisan National were defeated wholesale.

38. The nub of the point is this: Malaysia remains a young and fragile country. Should there be any elements out to ruffle the delicate racial fabric of the country, they can. All it takes are a few firebrand to stir emotions to the zenith. Take the statement of Lokman Adam of Umno Youth, for example.

39. It has dawned on him lately, that had Khairy Jamaluddin held firm, and allowed Najib to create a last minute electoral pact post May 9, Umno and PAS could have broken the unity of Pakatan Harapan. In other words, Pakatan Harapan would have lost its bearings from get go in the wee hours of May 10.

40. If such a pernicious logic and statement was to be repeated often enough, the discourse of the likes of Lokman Adam in Umno would have prevailed. The collective denial of Umno and Barisan National, as it is exhibited by Najib now, could have been set into a stage of permafrost.

41. Indeed, one often forgets that PPBM or Bersatu has a constitution that is bent on protecting the Federal Constitution, invariably, the the constitutional monarchy of Malaysia. Various articles of its association and rules in it's party constitution could not have come to pass, if they were not aligned to the Federal laws of the country.

42. Attempts to disparage the royal institutions should be curbed, and their indulgence online, contained by the Malaysi Multimedia Communication Commission (MMCC); as should be any efforts to sow the seeds of racial and ethnic tensions.

43. Malaysia is a construct that is formed of various social contracts too. The Spirit of Merdeka protects the rights of the Malays and non-Malays, just as Rukun Negara, Dasar Ekonomi Baru and Wawasan 2020 are all threaded together.

44. The royalties have their place in the Federal Constitution, as they do in the various social contracts, which the rakyat too benefit from immeasurably. The key was to create a win win formula that would prevent a sudden lurch to the left or right of Malaysian politics; as had been seen in the Middle East.

45. If Malaysia is to prevail as a country, be it as a manufacturing power or service economy — ideally both — each and every one of the people, across various strata of the country, must not do no harm, as affirmed by the Hippocratic oath, but inflict no evil and pain on the others, including and especially on issues verging on religions, royalties and race. Together, they must condemn the politics of cash, connections, concessions and contracts that have very nearly brought the country to rue. It is fortunate that 1MDB has now gone from a civil suit in the US Department of Justice to a criminal one. It is not Malaysians alone echoing the charges and changing the fate of the country but the world standing in attention with patriotic Malaysians to consign the corrupt international financial system to further scrutiny.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.