Shadow Cabinet – Do we have one in Malaysia?

ARCHIVES 2011

By admin-s On Feb 27, 2011

(There is) this one very crucial feature for the existence of the Shadow Cabinet which either Khairy or Najib failed or do not want to bring up.

By Choo Sing Chye

By demanding the Opposition to form a Shadow Cabinet had at last removed any skepticism that there is a competing power to Putrajaya.

But this recognition is meaningless if barriers are put up at every single mile towards Putrajaya to thwart the Opposition from taking over.

Earlier, Khairy Jamaluddin and now Najib Tun Razak , both being educated in Britain should not have fallen into this fallacy of thought of demanding the Opposition to have a Shadow Cabinet.

They should have known better to call for such a scheme to be incorporated into the Opposition election menu without realising that the Malaysian Parliamentary system barely resemble to that of the Westminster model.

Not many will argue against the fact that it’s resemblance slants more towards form than substance – hence what one might call a counterfeit Westminster model.

Then again, bearing in mind with this one very crucial feature for the existence of the Shadow Cabinet which either Khairy or Najib failed or do not want to bring up.

This feature allows the Opposition leader and his Shadow Cabinet to have meetings with Government Cabinet Secretary and other Government officials once the Parliament in Britain is dissolved. (1)

The Cabinet Secretary and its officials through these meetings will be alerted and familiarised with the new style of administering the country and the possibility of policy changes should there be a change in government after the General Election. (2)

This is the most unique feature the Opposition in Britain enjoys. This is done, so as to have a smooth transition of power if the government party loses in the General Election.

Will it happen here? Remember Najib’s utterance of ‘crushed bodies’ and ‘lives lost’ is analogous to a impregnable wall built across the road leading to Putrajaya.

Apparently with the absence of this very crucial feature and couple with a host of many other additional elements like the independence of the Malaysian Election Commission and the media freedom had in fact made arguments towards having a Shadow Cabinet more of a philosophical estimation than a feasible one.