A silver-tongued charlatan and a half-wit society are made for each other! When these two come together in an election, a great disaster happens: Charlatan comes to power!
– Mehmet Murat ildan, Turkish writer
There’s a standing joke that goes like this: It’s very difficult to get into the Malaysian civil service, but once you’re in, rest assured it’s equally just as difficult to get out!
You are safe; it’s not easy to remove you or boot you out of service. You can expect to retire with a comfortable pension or a fat EPF savings.
You would have to be guilty of gross misconduct like corruption, theft, assault of your superior or deliberate leak of government secrets, to be removed. That is also after a lengthy investigation and a domestic inquiry.
Minor offences — even allegations of sexual harassment — are not enough to remove you, unlike in the private sector.
The scenario is the same in politics. Once you are in politics you might just get to STAY in office till you ‘retire’, that is, if you get to retire at all, or you get dumped due to lack of majority support.
Talking of politicians, I really don’t mind those who give their time and energy to serving their constituents.
There are a few whom I know who are in their fourth, sixth or even seventh terms of office and they, believe me, really serve their people well.
But there are also some who are just warming their seats. Some are difficult to get hold of — whether during office or after office hours.
We only get to see them during campaigning and polling day. No, I am not exaggerating! Buy me a glass of teh tarik after the Covid-19 pandemic is over and I will release one or two names in private.
Now, what do we do with representatives, especially those who misbehave themselves like jumping from one party to another as if there is no tomorrow? Or getting involved in corrupt activities? Or not properly discharging their responsibilities?
Voters and constituents are the ones who suffer as they have to continue paying their representatives who jump parties or sleep on the job!
Of late, there have been calls for recall elections since Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s government came to an abrupt end after the unethical exit of several of his coalition MPs who banded together with several other parties.
These days, some unprincipled politicians appear to be switching allegiance as frequently as they change their soiled underwear.
It’s therefore timely, I think, that former chief justice Tan Sri Richard Malanjum has proposed the introduction of a recall election system to check misbehaving representatives or Yang Berhormat (YBs), especially the ‘frogs’, if you may.
I don’t know about others, but I view party-hopping politicians as the lowest breed there is in Malaysian politics. Why? Simply because they betray their voters, bring down their parties who placed so much hope in them and topple rightfully elected governments, and shamelessly help to set up “backdoor governments”.
As if this isn’t enough, these politicians even had the cheek to turn their backs on the very government they were part of.
I would like to refer to a local saying (it’s sensitive, but since I’m an ethnic Indian, I will be excused by my community) that goes: “If you see a snake and an Indian, kill the Indian first.”
Let me rejig the saying to suit the current political situation in our country — in reference to the two-faced politicians who disrupt Malaysia’s political stability: “If you see a snake and a politician (who betrays his or her voters), kill the politician first.”
Having said that, let’s return to my topic. So, how do we put a stop to this nonsense once and for all. I say, take up Malanjum’s suggestion.
First, let me explain in a few simple words what a recall election means. It is a procedure whereby voters have a platform to remove their elected representative before the end of his or her term. This system is widely practised in Japan, Switzerland, Taiwan, the Philippines, Ukraine, the US and British Columbia, Canada.
If MPs or assemblypersons are seen as not properly discharging their responsibilities, they can be called back with the written request of a specific number of constituents.
The whole idea of implementing this system is to balance the power that we give our YBs by returning some of this power to us, giving us the power of dismissal. If we are dissatisfied with the performance of our YBs, we can remove them immediately instead of having to wait for the next election.
As it is, our present electoral system makes us feel we are only “masters for the day”, and we lose our power to politicians who are busy chasing power and money.
The concept of recall election will empower constituents to punish their YBs, especially those who switch parties.
It’s a better alternative to anti-hopping laws which are ultra vires the Federal Constitution which violate Article 10 of the Federal Constitution, which guarantees freedom of association.
I believe recall elections will put fear into our YBs. Under existing laws, MPs or assemblypersons who commit offences lose their seats if they are fined RM2,000 or are jailed one year. But the YBs can be let off lightly if the court decides to be lenient.
So, will it work? A fellow columnist asked if it would not be open to abuse.
Well, if there’s a threshold as to when a recall election can be held, the system won’t be abused. Like in all other concepts, there has to be a strict mechanism in place.
For example, for a recall election to be held, the number of voters who want to remove their YB must be more than those who disagree, meaning they must form at least 50 percent of the total number of voters in the constituency.
I end with an appeal to the powers that be to consider Malanjum’s proposal. Please do not put the proposal in the back burner and act only when GE15 is near.
