MARCH 3 — In the past week, the country has witnessed the unexpected political crisis that led to the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government. The political fiasco that originated from relentless internal feuding within the previous government has demonstrated to the entire country just how easy it is for a government to lose its legitimacy by putting the interests of those in the corridors of power over the well-beings of the country and its people, right at a time when Malaysia is working assiduously to contain and mitigate the threats caused by the pandemic spreading of the COVID-19.
Although the rapid race for power and realignment among the members of Parliament, many of whom switched allegiance between the three party-leaders has seemingly been settled by the appointment of a new prime minister, i.e. Muhyiddin Yassin, his legitimacy as holder of Malaysia’s highest political office and of the incoming cabinet that he will soon be appointing remains questionable.
We therefore urge the new Prime Minister to prove his legitimacy as soon as possible by fulfilling his duties as follows:
1) A parliamentary sitting should be convened as soon as possible so that the new Prime Minister could determine whether he enjoys the confidence of the house. People have the right to know whether the claim of support from either alliance holds water. Statutory declarations have little significance, be it legally or morally, when the contents of the documents are unclear, the conditions under which they were signed were dubious and, most importantly, are not legally binding as they can be changed without consequence. The fact that several MPs who had previously pledged allegiance to Mahathir Mohammad, only to declare their support for Muhyiddin after the swearing in ceremony is telling.
2) Muhyiddin has the duty to clarify his position on the PH manifesto under which he contested and won in GE14. Given that those who cast their vote for him in GE14 did so with the understanding that Muhyiddin would fulfil the promises, he now owes them an explanation as to whether this remains the case.
3) The police should drop its investigations immediately and stop infringing on the people’s right to hold peaceful protests. Since Muhyiddin has claimed his legitimacy as prime minister, he should therefore remember that the rights to freedom of speech and peaceful assemblies are equally permitted under our constitution, especially when he himself took part in the last Bersih rally before GE14 and called for reforms.
4) In the event that Muhyiddin successfully commands the confidence of the House, the new cabinet must be free of individuals who are facing indictments for corruption. It’s worth reminding that Najib’s regime was brought down by the 1MDB scandal, and that Muhyiddin himself, along with others, has been instrumental in bringing the allegedly corrupt politicians to justice. It is high time that the new government step up its effort in getting rid of corrupt politicians and refrain from appointing indicted politicians until they are cleared by the courts.
5) We call on all politicians with ministerial or exco positions to take leave if they are on trials for criminal offence, so that the principle of accountability and separation of powers is upheld.
6) In the same spirit, we are adamant that the on-going trials should be allowed to continue with no interference from the new cabinet or AG, unlike what happened in the previous cabinet under Mahathir, where the withdrawal of the case against the former finance minister by the then AG raised more questions than answers as it was done without strong legal justifications.
7) As mentioned before, the entire country is under the threat of the COVID-19. Medical and epidemiology experts, including those from WHO and CDC of the United States, have warned repeatedly that no country is safe and no one should be under a false sense security, the new government must put our country’s public health first, before political interests. Besides from determining the confidence of the Prime Minister, Parliament should also focus on discussing and formulating emergency plans to better support our health system and high-risk communities.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
