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LETTER The | First, a one-day session of Parliament. Then a motion of mistrust. One claimed to be a government for all Malaysians, while another emphasized that the people supported his return as prime minister.
In this political chess game, rakyat have been treated as pawns while both players try to use Covid-19 as a wild card. Here is why:
Let’s talk about Parliament’s one-day session to start. Traditionally, parliamentary sessions are held to hold the government accountable in its management of the country. This is accomplished by having multiple debate sessions throughout the year where the opposition can question and propose alternatives to what the current ruling party is doing. In accordance with the Federal Constitution, Parliament must be called no more than six months after the last session.
However, this time, the speaker has decided that the meeting will only focus on bills and government affairs. Also, no written motions or questions will be accepted.
The denial of motions is understandable because I think most Malaysians agree that another change of government is the last thing we need now. A stable ruling party is vital in our efforts to combat the pandemic. It is always better to follow the vision of an average leader than to be confused with multiple brilliant minds trying to do things their way.
But denying any form of scrutiny in their policies is questionable. If Muhyiddin Yassin claims that his government serves all Malaysians, then he must be opened for questioning by all Malaysians.
The Perikatan Nasional government should not use the pandemic as an excuse to “crush” its policies without seeking parliamentary approval, as Teresa Kok said. Currently, the May 18 parliamentary meeting is nothing more than a “formality” move to meet the needs of the Federal Constitution.
Then came Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, the 4th, 7th, and perhaps 9th Prime Minister. Malaysia’s equivalent of the 3rd Hokage on Naruto, only with a more impressive record of potentially returning for the third time instead of just twice.
Supposedly he had the support of the people, sometimes. I say “sometimes” because Mahathir’s support does not seem loyal and can easily be swayed by Muhyiddin’s side.
Sometimes Mahathir says he has the support of 114 deputies. Sometimes Mahathir says he had the support of 114 deputies. Well, it’s not like there is any anti-party law in some way, is there?
After almost two months pause, Mahathir suddenly returned with a movement of mistrust amidst the entire movement control order (MCO) and Covid-19 situation.
I commend their efforts to ensure that the announcement was made on May 9 for symbolic reasons. However, this is still done in bad taste regardless of the well-being of the Malays.
Couldn’t you at least wait for the storm to pass before trying to become Prime Minister again? If Mahathir really had Malaysia’s best interest in mind, he should let the current ruling government handle the pandemic first and put politics aside. The will of the people must always take priority.
If they only paid attention to the rakyat’s voices, they would know that we only have one goal now, and that is to survive this pandemic. When the time comes, the votes of the people will be the ones to break the deal.
We are not pawns, we are not silent and we will not forget.
The views expressed here are those of the author / contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
