Sunday October 4, 2009

Vesting on people power

By SHAILA KOSHY

We can have our say in good governance, democracy and human rights. But instead of taking up that responsibility by voting on issues, we opt for the easier path.

THE official protector of human rights has come under fire for not effectively upholding its role.

"Change lies in the voters’ hands sinc e the body is bound by the Suhakam Act"- TAN SRI ABU TALIB

Suhakam came under fierce attack from the public and some of the panellists it had invited to speak during the Malaysian Human Rights Day celebrations earlier last month.

Chairman Tan Sri Abu Talib’s only defence – an oft-repeated one – for not enforcing measures for the protection of human rights was that change lies in the voters’ hands since the body is bound by the Suhakam Act that was passed by Parliament in 1999.

The cries for – and expectations of – more effective measures have increased since March 8, 2008, including calls for Suhakam to campaign for its own rights so it could be a national human rights institution worthy of its name.

Up until March 8, there seems to have been a cultural disconnect in what the public expect from the media because the majority continued to vote in Members of Parliament who had for decades tightened the shackles on the media.

Haris Ibrahim, one of the initiators of Saya Anak Bangsa (SABM) that was launched on Malaysia Day (Sept 16), is derisive of members of the public who are armchair critics.

“We fail in so many aspects; we have unreasonable expectations of lawmakers and have succeeded in making many of them think they need to be doing the work of local councillors instead of the serious business of looking at laws and policies.

“Many MPs are fearful that if they don’t check up on drains and markets and are not ‘seen’ by their constituents they will be deemed as not doing their job,” says the lawyer.

Former Umno minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, now in opposition party PKR, has a more pedestrian concern.

“First, we need to get them out to register as voters. Then, we need to get them to go out and vote,” he says.

And his concern is a legitimate one, as Institute of Strategic Analysis & Policy Research deputy chairman Rita Sim notes: on March 8, there were two million eligible voters who had not registered to vote in the general election.

Voting on issues

But Zaid acknowledges that, currently, most voters “belong to one block (Barisan Nasional) or the other (Pakatan Rakyat)”.

“It is the party and not the issues that really count for a good 60% of them. I don’t really know why this is so. What we need to do is to expand the 40% band to 60%.

“Voters must own the issues. For example, go to Pakatan and say you want a Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation and will vote for them if they give their commitment to it.

“Then you go to the Barisan Nasional and say the same thing. That is voter power.”

And what if neither will commit?

“Then find someone to stand as an independent candidate, as they do in some countries for certain issues,” says Zaid.

But political scientist Dr Chandra Muzaffar is doubtful whether an MP can take a different position from that of the party in the current system of parliamentary democracy.

“I don’t think we’ve had a history of voting outside party lines,” says the Universiti Sains Malaysia’s Chair of Global Studies.

Even so, he says that MPs who are conscientious can keep an open channel and engage their constituents on matters raised, for example in Suhakam’s annual report which has been conscientiously tabled in Parliament every year but never called for debate.

“If they did so, they would be empowering a few thousand people. These are things that an MP can do without seeking permission.”

Haris admits that often times, voters “look at the Left and the Right and see that neither come close to what we want and we inevitably make do with the lesser of the evil.”

“But if there are no decent candidates, Joe Public has an obligation to source his community for one and if he still comes up empty, then to offer himself,” he says.

Sim notes that there is a void in civil society now, especially in the Pakatan states like Selangor, as many of the activists have become lawmakers or councillors.

“Penang is slightly different because it has a long history of activism, for example, the Consumers Association of Penang and Aliran.”

What about voters who make the decision to abstain because of the poor quality of the candidates?

“That’s an irresponsible act, an abandonment of one’s duty. Those institutions are ours. You don’t treat your businesses that way. We need to take ownership,” says Haris.

“I call the SABM Charter (http://sayaanak malaysia.net/) a little sampan. It articulates what the core group of 13 stand for, the heart of each of us and our message to the rest of the people.

“We need to take responsibility for all our institutions and the Federal Constitution itself. Good governance can’t be abandoned to the politicians. When will we ever learn that it’s in our hands?

“Unlike 1Malaysia which is top-down in its approach, SABM is bottom-up; we are waking the people up to a shared membership of this nation; we are utilising a power accorded to us under the Constitution.”

‘Qualified’ politicians

And since the choice of candidates lies in the hands of political parties, Sim wants candidates to be vetted to ensure they have, at a minimum, tertiary education.

“These are people who are going to be concerned with lawmaking and policy issues. How many MPs actually study the bills before they are debated?” she asks.

But often, the Executive only releases the Bill after the second reading, giving MPs less than a day or sometimes just a few hours to debate and pass a new law or amendment.

“Well, we need to change that. We need to be like Australia where there is a whole team of researchers to give feedback on a Bill. We have some researchers in Parliament now but the number is insufficient,” she adds.

“I would like to see a system where potential MPs need to undertake certain accredited courses before they can stand. If you want quality laws, you must have quality lawmakers. Instead, we have MPs being drawn into controversies.”

Dr Chandra says the current exercise of reviewing the laws is a response to March 8 and the message that voters want a change.

“There is some impact but how much is something else,” says Dr Chandra.

“In the end, the calculations will be linked to power, as is the case in other parts of the world. It will be difficult but if there is pressure from the public and the Opposition parties, the Government can’t ignore these things any more.”

Dr Chandra recalls the time when he and others set up Aliran in 1977 and how difficult it was to use the term human rights or be heard.

Upgrading Suhakam

Will the Government take up the suggestion of former Hakam president Ramdas Tikamdas that Suhakam be upgraded to a constitutional institution like the Election Commission and Police Commission?

“That would be a major step. I can’t see the Federal Government doing that,” replies Dr Chandra.

“Things have changed because of the larger environment, for example the advances in communications technology. A quantum leap is not going to happen, just incremental changes.

“One of the reasons for the greater talk on human rights today is because the Opposition parties have become stronger. So we need to engage the Opposition MPs to get signatures petitioning the Government to give Suhakam more powers and for greater access to information.”

Zaid, who is busy trying to patch up the cracks within the Pakatan, admits that the opposition must now show itself to be committed to the issues that it had given promises on.

“For example, there is no way to fight corruption or abuse of power without access to information. Otherwise, it’s just misinformation, disinformation and propaganda, as you see in some newspapers.”

As for credibility, Sim says the Government is still grappling with it. “The problem for the Government today is that of credibility; even if it was more transparent, the public are not likely to believe them,” adds Sim with a sigh.

“Look at the MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) and the Teoh Beng Hock case. They took so darn long before the investigations were made public and the decision to hold an inquest was made.

“You think the public is going to believe anything? Short of telling them that Teoh was murdered, they won’t believe any of the findings.

“The Government has to address the question of its credibility. The Barisan has to be very serious about punishing the offenders in all the recent scandals.”

Sim adds that it is a difficult situation for the Barisan government to manage but its actions must show justice and accountability.

“I think it’s time we de-couple the civil service from the Executive. The Barisan has been in power so long that civil servants think they are tied to them, that their future rests on the Barisan,” she says.

“Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib (Tun Razak) is trying to move things along but he does not have enough foot soldiers.”

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