Funding democracy, the BN way

ARCHIVES 2009

By admin-s On Apr 24, 2009

By Jacqueline Ann Surin (The Nut Graph)

SINCE the historic March 2008 general election, it has become clearer to Malaysians that democracy is messy and expensive. Indeed, any politician who tries to convince the rakyat that democracy is an easy and frugal affair is guilty of trying to fool the masses.

But what have we been hearing about the unusual spate of elections the country has been having since March 2008, especially after it became apparent that Malaysia would be in for its sixth by-election in Penanti, Penang? Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders, most notably the prime minister himself, are calling these elections a drain on resources, a waste of public funds, and even a "publicity stunt" by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).

Could taxpayers' money be better spent in other ways? And should Malaysians demand that our politicians and political parties get down to running the country instead of engaging in excessive "politicking"?

It adds up

There is no denying that the five by-elections we've had since March 2008 — Permatang Pauh, Kuala Terengganu, Bukit Selambau, Bukit Gantang and Batang Ai — have cost us money.

According to The Star, these by-elections have cost a total of RM33.4 million — no small amount.

Constituency	Date of by-election	EC's expenses (RM)	Police's expenses (RM)
Permatang Pauh	26 Aug 2008	409,000	2.5mil
Kuala Terengganu	24 Jan 2009	580,000	11.5mil
Bukit Selambau	7 April 2009	400,000	5.0mil
Bukit Gantang	7 April 2009	600,000	7.0mil
Batang Ai	7 April 2009	400,000	5.0mil

These figures should indeed be made public. But when the figures are publicised and they go hand-in-hand with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak declaring that by-elections caused by resignations are a "sheer waste of public funds", some questions need to be asked.

Firstly, how else does the BN leadership envision a democracy should be run? If a seat is vacated, what other means does Malaysia, which the government says is a democracy, have to ensure that the people are represented according to the majority's wishes?

Mohd Fairus (Source: mfairus.blogspot.
com) Of course, the underbelly of Najib and other BN leaders' statements about the resignation of PKR's Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin as both Penang deputy chief minister and Penanti assemblyperson is that his reasons for resigning are frivolous. Nothing more than a "political ploy", to quote Najib himself, because apparently Fairus didn't quit for the "legitimate" reasons of being sick, bankrupt or convicted of a crime.

The same views have been echoed by no less than the Election Commission (EC). Plus, the EC has openly supported proposals by some BN leaders such as Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir and Tan Keng Liang to prevent "unnecessary" elections. These include suggestions for stricter laws, and penalties for elected reps or their parties should an elected representative resign for reasons other than what's stated in Article 48(1) of the Federal Constitution.

This, the argument goes, would suggest that Fairus, or other elected representatives like him such as former Bukit Selambau assemblyperson V Arumugam, who also resigned, are doing their electorate a disservice.

And that disservice is being reflected in the amount of money that has so far been spent on the five by-elections we've had since March 2008.

Why so expensive?

But if protecting taxpayers' money is really the intention of the barrage of criticisms against PKR, why isn't the BN asking this question instead: Just why is it so expensive for the EC and especially the police to manage a by-election?

I, for one, would like a thorough breakdown of how every ringgit was spent by the EC and the police. In fact, it looks really incredible that the police should be spending millions. In fact, the police spend much, much more than the EC.