Where is the accountability and transparency?
Wong Mun Loong, The Malaysian Insider
Like many Malaysians who crave a more open, democratic and participative society, I too rejoiced in seeing the rise of a more oppositional and democratic voice in Malaysia. Sadly, events over the last six months have shown us, that politics is really more about the desire for power and the win-at-all costs mantra is still the primary motive for politicians.
Not so long ago, We have an election and the re-appointment of the Menteri Besar in Selangor, and then the move to replace him ensued. And while Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail may be a good replacement candidate, there are clearly questions we should be raising both regarding the process and also what has been claimed and promised by those advocating for replacement.
In a democracy, there is the will of the people and the consent and sovereignty of the people. Yes, Pakatan Rakyat (PR) was given a renewed mandate but it was clear that voters were voting for the incumbent Menteri Besar as they were satisfied and happy with his record and achievements. Even PR was trumpeting Selangor’s record.
However, that scenario has changed and the incumbent is portrayed as incompetent and not responsive to the electorate.
Both Dr Wan Azizah and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim proclaimed in the last two days that the residents of Selangor have been ill-served in the current administration. They claimed specifically health, transport and rubbish removal (in Kajang) were central concerns, apart from Kidex, the Bank Islam settlement and the Menteri Besar’s personal style amongst other reasons necessitating his removal. Invariably, this brings up the key and central issues of trust and accountability.
In the first instance, if PR were extolling the virtues of its first-term Selangor government and its leadership and went to the people promising more and better things to come, why is then a sudden turn-around and the claim that he was a disaster and that people in the state were not benefiting at all?
The question that follows naturally then is whether the PR government (including all its representatives and exco-members) and PR machinery misled, or worse, deliberately lie to the public about its competent, accountable and transparent politics?
Indeed, what was released to the media by PR was a litany of “wrongs” and misdeeds and they go back a long way. If indeed, PR has lied, how different is it when it promises new politics and reforms. There was clearly no transparency in the unfolding of this sad and tragic political scenario, and questions of competency and public accountability similarly have to be answered.
Other questions too have to be raised: who are the “machine men or women” mapping out such strategies (even PKR deputy president Azmin Ali had raised this in his speech to PKR recently but again, it raises the question of how complicit is he in the whole process?)? How accountable are they? If a political adviser can seek to remove an incumbent MB and replace him with his personal choice (or indeed even himself), how democratic is the process? Surely, PR should go back to the people with a new mandate and this time stating categorically its candidate for MB.
The participation of advisers and party officials in the process also begets the question of public accountability.
If PR were to have an economic adviser, would that also mean that such an adviser would dictate the budget and all economic policies over a putative minister of finance or the treasurer?
The task of an adviser and party official is to advise and to serve, not to override elected representatives but the machinations of party politics has meant an evolution and descent into faceless men and women dictating the political process. That is clearly an indictment of new politics in Malaysia given its political infancy.
Public accountability requires a full disclosure of the facts to the public before and not after the elections. The lack of such a practice clearly smacks of political arrogance and political power. Again, this does not bode well for the revival of Malaysian democracy.
Power-brokers have to be called into account and if PR politicians are as open and transparent as they claimed, they should unequivocally all declared their assets publicly and set up a register through which the public can scrutinise such declarations. This should be non-negotiable.
The key actors, Dr Wan Azizah and Anwar’s declaratory and prosecutorial comments against the MB are sad if not indeed, farcical.
I live in Kajang in the state of Selangor. It has the highest incidence of dengue and traffic and refuse removal are certainly issues in Kajang.
A trip around the city would readily show that traffic is a major concern and a trip to Semenyih (about 10km away) could take anything between 20 and 40 minutes travelling along a main arterial road.
Rubbish dumps can be readily seen in the heart of the town and every morning, I pass a number of dump sites and the rubbish has been there for well over a month (and they are close to [within walking distance of] the KTM!). Indeed, rubbish dumps populate Kajang and the main roads and this has been happening even when there was a PR state assemblyman and now under the replacement candidate for MB.
The dumpsites accumulate stagnant water and become breeding grounds for mosquitoes and surely, Dr Wan Azizah as a doctor knows the implications arising from that but to date, such issues – refuse removal, health and traffic problems in Kajang – are not being addressed but rather political strategising and manoeuvring seems to have taken precedence over serving the public.
Moreover, to assign the blame to one person – the MB – flies in the face of collective responsibility (all exco-members should know that!), and also conveniently lets off the elected state representative. That’s not accountability and is certainly not responsible politics.
