Its about the people,people

Sunday May 4, 2008
It’s about the people, people
STRAY THOUGHTS
By A.ASOHAN


As far as the rakyat is concerned, what they want is the best man for the job and hang his political affiliations.

GIVEN that there is a yawning chasm between thought and deed, or words and action, it was still heartening to read what Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdulah Ahmad Badawi told Barisan Nasional MPs before the first sitting of the 12th Parliament on Monday.

Restore voters’ confidence in the coalition by working hard for the people’s welfare, he told his fellow Members of Parliament.


These voters exercising their right are choosing their government so the government should fear the people, not the other way round.

He then added that they should also defend the Government, the party and the leadership (The Star Online, April 28).

Finally, somebody’s got it in the right order: It’s the people first, then the Government of the day (as chosen by the people), then the party, and last of all, the leadership ... if at all, I might add.

While some (usually on the right side of the political divide) may put in a good case for the need for stability in a newborn nation, more than 50 years of single-party rule has created a lot of misconceptions within the electorate and especially the elected.

“Government” is not synonymous with the ruling party. They are not one and the same. The ruling party has only been given the mandate, by the people, to form the Government. It’s a mandate they can revoke in the next election.

It’s only temporary, folks.

Prior to the March 8 polls, it was obvious that many of our politicians still hadn’t grasped this simple concept, the pillar – nay, the keystone – of democracy. There were speeches reminding the people of Malaysia to be grateful for what the Government had done for them; how generous it has been with ... hmm, our money; et cetera, et cetera.

Some of our leaders at least had the wisdom to temper such speeches with a certain degree of humility – look how well we’ve served you, and let us keep doing so. Others, however, made them seem like threats.

We all have to take some measure of blame for this. When Abdullah’s premiership was validated by the overwhelming mandate he got at the 2004 general election, he said, “Don’t work for me; work with me.”

We were so euphoric over his anti-corruption agenda, which hinted at much-needed reforms, that few pointed out that as Prime Minister, and thus the highest-ranking public servant, it was actually he who was supposed to work for us. Are things going to get better now that there has been a wake-up call?

Only if the Prime Minister manages to translate thought into action. The biggest barrier to that would be the politicians who still haven’t woken up to this new reality.

And there are many, going by the finger-pointing and denial still prevalent in these post-election times.

It’s not the Barisan Nasional tradition to work with the Opposition? Why not, if it’s for the sake of people?

Someone took up a post at a state agency under Pakatan Rakyat rule because he wants to continue serving? That’s no betrayal of a party that says it’s there for the people.

All those calls for self-examination after the shocking results of the 12th general election? I’d be more assured if they were not done on the basis of reviving the party’s fortunes, but on how to become relevant to the people again.

You shouldn’t be asking how to reform the party to win back seats. No, the questions you should be asking yourself are: How did we lose the people’s confidence? How did we lose touch with their concerns? How can we change ourselves to better serve their needs?

I am waiting for the day when a Barisan MP votes against a Federal Government initiative because he believes it would adversely affect his constituency, and he isn’t slammed for it and forced to either recant or resign.

Don’t blindly toe the party line, toe the people line.

Our former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who, in one of his numerous calls for Abdullah to step down, said that it had to be done now before the party is further weakened. He said that if the four new Opposition-led state governments end up serving the people better, they would get re-elected and that would be a disaster for Umno.

Sir, if these governments do end up serving the people better, shouldn’t you be happy for the people of these states?

I hope that unlike his predecessor, Abdullah keeps in mind that he is first and foremost Prime Minister of Malaysia; his post as party president of Umno is only secondary.

I’m not necessarily promulgating anarchy (which is not synonymous with chaos, by the way), but I think Parliament should have its first ever movie screening, and all our politicians should have a chance to watch the Wachowski brothers’ 2006 V for Vendetta with its tagline, so relevant in these trying times: “People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.”

True, it’s probably a paraphrase of Thomas Jefferson’s “Does the government fear us? Or do we fear the government? When the people fear the government, tyranny has found victory. The federal government is our servant, not our master!”

A pity that Western filmmakers and the third US president have a better understanding of democracy, which is, after all, an Asian concept.

Don’t believe me? Check out Wikipedia, which notes that the world’s first republics, known as the Maha Janapadas states in modern Bihar, appeared in India a couple of centuries before the Greeks even started philosophising about it.

Now that the euphoria of change from the 12th GE is slowly dissipating, A. Asohan, New Media Editor at The Star, is going to get apolitical for a while.