To improve democracy, exercise it

By R B Bhattacharjee, The Edge

RECENT events involving the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition will help Malaysians appreciate the axiom that democracy is a work in progress.

That is to say, it is naive to imagine that the serious issues of governance that have marred the Barisan Nasional’s (BN) record would be mostly rectified if only a new government could be voted into power.

The gravest of the challenges facing PR at this time appears to be the proposal by PAS to consider forming a unity government with Umno.

For PAS to think of forming a liaison with the leading BN party, when Umno has not dismantled the machinery of political patronage that it has largely created, reflects the Islamic party’s failure to read the mood of voters in the 12th general election last year.

The simple reality is that if a PAS-Umno coalition comes to pass, the incentive for Umno to reinvent itself as a model of accountability and transparency would be greatly diminished.

Such is the nature of power, and its concentration in the hands of a few.

A second issue demonstrates the frail foundations of the current exercise in democracy.

This is the squabble in Penang between the DAP-led state government and its partner, the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) over the appointment of civil servants to head the state’s two municipal councils.

When Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, who is the secretary-general of the DAP, gave these posts to non-politicians, it set off a turf war with PKR leaders.

Their boycott of the swearing-in ceremony of the Seberang Perai Municipal Council president last week and subsequent statements by both sides exposed the political dimension of council appointments.

Again, the focus shifted away from service to the people to the wrangle for power.

A third note of caution comes from Selangor, where a councillor of the Petaling Jaya City Council has alleged that the PR state government divides Alam Flora’s waste management contracts to political parties — 40% to PKR, 30% to PAS and 30% to DAP.

If this allegation proves to be true, it is merely a lesson for all citizens to always remember that a check-and-balance system is an indispensable part of the democratic process and must always be maintained no matter what the politicians promise.

The open tender system is one simple step any government — whether BN or PR-led — needs to adopt in order to demonstrate its sincerity in serving the public interest.

Another step towards accountability is to hold a public hearing for every significant project, senior appointment or public interest issue that emerges.

The public declaration of assets of elected officials is a third integral element of transparency.

These basic measures would make a fine start towards a new era of participatory governance.

Now the discerning public has enough examples of faux pas by both coalitions to take effusive promises of reform and new beginnings with a large pinch of salt.

Long live democracy!