The rubber stamp in the name of “The Parliament”
The Dewan Rakyat or the Hall of the peoples in English is the highest law making body in the country and it is supposed to supervise the executive branch of the governments. Anything that is of importance to the people should be debated in the Dewan Rakyat so that the people and their representatives in the house would be able to voice their opinion and address the issues in the spirit of democracy. The executive branch should not be in control of the Dewan Rakyat or else the separation of powers in the 3 branches (legislative, executive and judicial) of the government would be in jeopardy and the people and the country would be subjected to the winch and fancy of the executive branch; which is exactly the case in Malaysia.
When Tun Mahartir was in power, the judicial branch of the government basically lost its independent when the then Lord President was dismissed. That would be the darkest day of the judicial in Malaysia and Malaysia was under labeled as a country whereby democracy is simply a phase and nothing in essence.
Our elected representatives have a duty to turn the Dewan rakyat into a true “Hall of the people” and not the rubber stamp of the BN. However, since the formation of the country, the country has been governed by the BN alone and its grip on the parliament has become stronger by the years through various means. The 2004 general election saw the BN controls more than 91% of the Dewan Rakyat and that have led to the most powerful BN at the expense of the country and the peoples. Since the PM, Abdullah came to power, the corruption index of the country has turned for the worse and the country has become less transparence as per Transparency International’s standard.
With the 91% mandate it received in 2004, the BN administration has become un-checkable and its dominant coalition partner, the UMNO, has become more authoritative in its push for the NEP and even challenging the Constitutions of the country when its leaders announced and reaffirmed that Malaysia is an Islamic state. Some UMNO leaders even challenged the Chinese to “return” to China in the parliament and used it as a butcher house when cows were slaughter in its compound to celebrate the second marriage of the PM, Abdullah.
When the PKFZ (Port Klang Free Zone) scandal was brought up by the opposition leader in the Parliament, Mr. Lim Kit Siang , the speaker of the Dewan Rakyat refused an emergency debate because “the government is looking into it”. What a joke has the BN turns the parliament into? How would the people put their trust in the parliament to protect their interest? YB or Yang Berhormat (Honorable or respected member) has been labeled by the people on the streets as Yang Bodor (idiot) or Yang Buaya (corrupted), which is not only an insult to the MPs but to the Parliament and to the country.
The country has just celebrated its 50th Merdeka, it is still in its infancy stage of development as a country. The Malaysian regardless of their race, cultural or religious background must face the truce, that this country’s future hangs not only in the balance of the division and separation of powers not only in the 3 branches of the government but also a more equable balance of political power between the BN and the opposition.
David Wong
DAP Sarawak Publicity Secretary
07-09-2007
Below is reported by Malaysiakini for your reading pleasure;
A government backbencher today suggested that the Parliament is relocated to Putrajaya, the seat of the government administration.
"We need a bigger and more comfortable Parliament. We should just relocate our Parliament to Putrajaya," said Badruddin Amiruldin (BN-Jerai).
"Our Parliament is just a tall rectangular building. I understand that in the past we had no money to get a better building, but now we have plenty of money and we should build a more beautiful building in a better place."
Where the Parliament is located is not important, but we have to ensure that it is on par with the judiciary and executive," he added.
" Explaining that the Parliament was now under the tight control of executive, Wan Junaidi (photo) called for the Parliamentary Services Act to be reviewed.
He said that the Parliament needed to get out Ministry of Finance's control and has its own budget and allocations, like how it was before the Act was abolished in 1992.
