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The Yong Teck Lee Sandiwara

The former Sabah chief minister, Dato' Yong Teck Lee, is no more an MP and state assemblyman. He lost both when an Elections Court disqualified him for electoral corrupt practices, and declared his state assembly seat vacant. The Federal Court rejected his application for leave to appeal. The rules call for a politician to be deprived of both his seats if he is disqualified in one. But in Malaysia, politicians, especially from the governing National Front (BN), believe that an election court which disqualified them must be biased. So Dato' Yong brings forth spurious arguments gush forth to suggest the Elections Commission is at fault, is biased, or otherwise there to ensure they are denied of their seats. The candidate has done no wrong, of course. The courts are biased. The elections commission is biased. His opponents, who filed the petitions, are biased. He alone is without blame. And the country must stand still while he finds creative ways to remain in office after he is disqualified.

There is an immediacy in election petitions. But not in Bolehland. These petitions are head often years after they are filed. When it should be disposed off expeditiously. The BN decided this is not enough and now has an appeals procedure that takes it up the Federal Court. An election petition these days come with huge risks. If an election petition succeeds, the sitting candidate can be forced to pay for the costs of the petition. The aim is to beggar the candidate, especially if he is from the opposition, by making him pay the costs of an election petitition if it succeeds.

The EC has amended the rules with such abandon so the BN would always be on a winning streak. In the latest constituency delineation, UMNO wanted Putra Jaya to be a parliamentary constituency, and the EC obliged, even if Putra Jaya only had 85 voters. The largest constituency has more than 100,000 voters. No one, not even the Opposition has challenged it. This is where the process of elections is so mired in controversy. It would not be long before the EC would find itself at a dead end.

Dato' Yong is a BN man. He is allowed all the media space he needs to argue his case to a bored and disinterested public. He lost his case. He applies for a royal pardon. If he gets it, he can remain as both state assemblyman and member of parliament. But there is no provision in the rules for a royal pardon to prevent fresh elections. Even the Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat, Tun Zahir Ismail, accepted that argument for a moment. Now he lamely says: "It is not a matter or accepting or not accepting (the EC's decision) ... I was not given a choice." He is in charge. So, who did not give him the choice? The Election Commission, the Prime Minister, his driver? Is the Speaker subject to pressure in such matters? He should explain his remarks. Be that as it may, when one applies for a royal pardon, one accepts guilt for which he seeks it. So, ipso facto, Dato' Yong accepts he is disqualified. He is then not state assembly man for Likas, removed for an election corrupt practice. That automatically removes him as MP for Gaya as well.

The Election Commission orders for fresh elections in Gaya. There is none in Likas since the vacancy there fell within two years of the next state assembly elections in Sabah. Technically, the Likas election result was void ab initio, and the two-year restriction should not apply. But this is Bolehland, where rules are framed to protect the guilty in the ruling coalition. It is when the decision that determines when it fell vacant, not at the date itself. Dato' Yong committed the offences during the 1999 general elections. As in other areas, may provisions in the Elections Act were framed in panic and fright, so it will, at a later stage, come to haunt it. Not yet. In any case, the royal pardon should not be granted him. He has, in his public comment, does not admit he is guilty of what disqualified him. And continues to insist the election court conspired to unseat him. That shows he is not contrite for what he did, and on the face of it, that appeal for a royal pardon must fail.

Normally, appeals for pardon takes time. But, remember, Dato' Yong is a BN man. So, his pardon is discussed not as an item in the agenda, but under other matters. What it is its impact? Is this an attempt to forestall the Gaya election so BN would not have to face an election when it would rather not? Or is it to allow Dato' Yong to stand as a BN candidate again? Or so BN could tie itself in knots, as seems the case. The BN council should have met and decided what should have been done instead of letting Dato' Yong create a crisis when there is none. Even if he should get a pardon, as he could well, his parliamentary and state seats remain vacant. The pardon is for wrongs committed which led to his ouster, not so he could remain MP and state assemblyman.

If Yong Teck Lee had been an opposition man, UMNO and BN party leaders would have attacked him for defying the Election Commission, Tun Zahir would not be forced to take a decision that put a pie on his face, and any attempt at a royal pardon laughed out. It is lucky he is not. What is more insidious in his applying for a royal pardon is actions like Dato' Yong's is to instil fear into the speaker and the Elections Commission to toe the line. It throws doubt on yet another institution of state: the Election Commission; and another, Parliament and state assembly itself.

Curiously, the BN is silent in this charade. It cannot dictate what ought to be. Too many in authority openly defy it. The BN packed the roost with Malay officers and politicians, in the belief they could be relied upon to do the "right" thing. Not any more. And this is what has caused the Yong Teck Lee sandiwara to be so drawn out. In the hope, that BN could salvage some semblance of dignity out of this sordid affair. It has nothing to do with democracy or fair play or morality. It is another brazen attempt to ensure it is right even when it is wrong. What stops it is that not many Malay officers agree with this assessment any more. All the BN can do now is to get out of this mess as gracefully as it can.

Meanwhile, preparations for fresh elections in Gaya is under way. Keadilan is a candidate in this Chinese-majority constituency. The DAP is another which wants to contest, with some suggestion that its candidate ought to be Mr Lim Kit Siang. It shows how out of touch with reality the party is. The Keadilan is from Sabah. The DAP has won a few seats in Sarawak and Sabah because it fielded local candidates. If Mr Lim contests, the chances that he would lose is too high for the DAP even to consider it. In one sense, it is a test of strength for the BN. The PBS is now in BN. So it would not field a candidate. So, it should romp home easily. Would it?

M.G.G. Pillai
pillai@mgg.pc.my