Back at Square One

How exactly will the removal of Najib stop the next person from using (and abusing) the very same powers that Najib now has access to?

Mak Khuin Weng

Our embattled Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s move to transfer key persons within the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has been reversed following a public outcry and it would appear that negative perception once again played a role in how our government reacts.

Despite the reversal of fortune for the MACC officers, there remains the omnipresent threat that they can still be transferred out at a moment’s notice. The power of the Public Service Department director-general is absolute when it comes to enacting such transfers.

This was the case when the Selangor government was given a state secretary not of their choice. Despite the protests by Pakatan Rakyat politicians and Bersih 2.0’s call to the rakyat to protest the appointment, less than 300 people gathered to voice their disappointment.

Malaysians are tired. How many times do we need to rally to protest every little thing that the Federal Government does?

Time passed and Mohd Khusrin Munawi continues to serve the Selangor government as the state secretary till today. No further fuss emerged and our politicians did not raise the need to implement changes to our rules and laws to curb the PSD director general’s powers.

Of course, everyone blames Najib for this ‘abuse of power’ because the PSD director general is appointed by the Prime Minister and thus absolutely loyal to the Prime Minister.

But the real question is; are such transfers illegal?

We are just told that Najib is abusing his powers, but Najib had to have the ability to perform such actions in order to abuse it.

And here’s why I’m not too happy with about the call to remove Najib from the Prime Minister position – how exactly will the removal of Najib stop the next person from using (and abusing) the very same powers that Najib now has access to?

No one is calling for the powers of the Prime Minister to be curtailed, just for the present Prime Minister to be removed. We are just seeing a power play between pro-Najib and anti-Najib forces.

This means that the winner of this power play will continue to have access to the same powers that Najib has access to now.

Hence, the Prime Minister will need to be publicly chastised every time someone finds the actions of the Prime Minister objectionable.

So will we be back at square one once either the pro-Najib or anti-Najib forces win the war?