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Absent MPs And National Issues

The Prime Minister is incensed National Front MPs do not attend Parliament as assidiously as they should. He threatens National Front, especially UMNO, MPs would be dropped if they stay away from Parliament. For the first time in three decades, the Opposition can itself heard, without government MPs denying it a quorum by leaving the House. Now with 45 MPs, twice the quorum, it puts the government on notice. It is now possible for government bills to be defeated. One symbolic defeat, even on an irrelevant matter, would destroy the government's equanimity, such as it is. That the Prime Minister must threaten his MPs with deselection, and for UMNO to insist office-seekers to be registered voters, 45 years after the government coalition took office, reflects fear and disarry at the Malay ground demanding answers for its un-Malay actions, the most important the continuing saga of He Who Must Be Destroyed At All Cost. He has no choice. The opposition leader, Dato' Fadhil Noor, is seen, in the public eye, a more credible parliamentarian and leader than the Prime Minister.

The November 1999 general elections, which returned the National Front to power with 75 per cent of the 192 seats, nevertheless made almost every Malay-majority constituency at risk. The regular electoral gerrymandering to ensure Malay parliamentary dominance now comes to haunt the government. Like the Fijian territorial chiefs, UMNO leaders assumed this allowed them power in perpetuity. All it needed to unhinge is a revolt within the ranks. If the November general elections counts for anything, this Malay cultural desertion unhinged the National Front. Every step UMNO takes to recover this lost ground is disbelieved. So, its members nonchalantly watch from the political sidelines, its MPs so arrogant and cocks-of-the-hoop that they cannot be whipped into line with threats that now do not matter: one National Front MP told me it mattered not if he was not a candidate in the next election; he would almost certainly be defeated if he were. And blames his predicament on the Prime Minister.

The MPs who regularly play truant in Parliament are not from the opposition. But it is not only MPs who do so. The cabinet does too. Often the House does not have even a single minister on the benches. The Prime Minister is a notable absentee to parliamentary sessions. Parliament, in their view, is to be ignored except to tell the world we are a parliamentary democracy. The Speaker, appointed and not elected by MPs from amongst them, would not go against the government of the day. If a government want an issue ignored, it would not; if the opposition wants an issue raised, it cannot. But the mood in the House changed irrevocably with the November 1999 general election. The Prime Minister takes on not a Chinese, Mr Lim Kit Siang, but a Malay, and from his home state of Kedah. In the confrontations so far, Dato' Fadhil has the edge.
If the National Front wants Parliament to reflect the people's concern, it should be made to exist as one, not as a rubber stamp. It should be made the most important political forum in the country, where issues are vigorously debated, and the government regularly keeping it informed. Instead, Parliament is ignored, even in session, and important policy statements made outside the House in dubious circumstances. If the Prime Minister wants National Front MPs to attend Parliamentary sessions, he should order his cabinet and government too. He should set an example by being available during sessions, and be present for more than his cursory appearances, actively participate in the proceedings. All important statements during session must be made in the House first. Unless the leaders give Parliament the respect it deserves, the followers would not care. Besides, the Prime Minister moves not to ensure parliamentary sovereignty but to staunch the rot within his ranks.

But the Prime Minister's crocodile tears, which the New Straits Times editorial today (19 October 00, p14) reflects, must remain that. "The Prime Minister is rightfully concerned with the state of affairs because it is detrimental to the smooth functioning of parliamentary democracy if MPs are frequently absent from parliamentary sittings and what is more disturbing is that the people's respect for their elected representatives could erode over time if the absenteeism persists and is not checked." Phew! But where was the New Straits Times when the National Front did just what it says MPs should not: deliberately preventing the functions of parliament. Couching the problem in cliches does not address the problem of National Front credibility. It is not disrespect for parliamentary democracy the Prime Minister rails against. The editorial suggests House sittings be televised. Would that help the National Front? Or the Opposition, whose MPs argue with purpose, often to taunts from the government backbenchers whose role more often than not just that. Another irrelevant quick-fix to an intractible problem.

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