A Union Government for Malaysia

By Sakmongkol

My earlier articles on the idea of unity government were admittedly, cynical takes. They were meant to provoke and debunk the ideas by political mountebanks and charlatans.

Ini perkara jual minyak, kita sudah lali. Bila hendak mampus, baru cakap mengenai kerajaan perpaduan. Bila bontot sudah panas, kedudukan sudah terancam, kuasa mahu hilang, kita mahu bersatu. Besatulah semua perompak! Kita tidak ada apa apa yang akan hilang, kecuali kepuraan kita.

The basic objective of a union government aka unity government is to form a government consisting of all political parties so that everyone is on the same page. That will ensure everything meant for the wellbeing of the people are carried out quickly. Probably not all, as any party which does not have any presence in parliament does not have grounds to be included.

A union government is usually formed out of a need to act as a united entity to overcome an extreme crisis. A splendid historical example is the case of Canada of the First World War.

During the First World War the conservative government of Canada faced a serious problem in recruiting men to join the army. French Canadians refused to join in the war fearing discriminations and oppression by English speaking Canadians. The French speaking Canadians were led by a man known as Henri Bourassa. They were mostly centred at Quebec. The opposition party in Canada at that time was the Liberal party. The leader of the Conservative party invited Liberal party to form a union government so that they could overcome the conscription problem.

The liberal party refused. The liberals did not want to join the Union Government fearing such communion would only trigger off a wave of extreme nationalism in Quebec under the leadership of Bourassa. Such an outcome would inevitably result in a demand for referendum to determine whether Quebec should still remain a Canadian entity.

The leader of the Conservatives managed to persuade and entice a number of Liberals to join. They were able to defeat the Liberal party and the French Canadians and enforced the conscription act.

During the Second World War, the conservatives (those consisting of original conservatives plus renegade liberals) wanted to form another Union Government like that of WW1. They failed, and the Liberals won.

The main points:-

• There was a war- a crisis of the highest order
  
• The were problems encountered by the ruling national government to overcome a certain problem associated with the war efforts- namely conscripting people into the army.
  
• Invite the biggest opponent which stands in the way of solving the effort.
  
• The union had the collateral benefit of extinguishing a minor rival- in Canada in the form of Henri Bourassa.
  

Union Government in Malaysia?

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