Reform the government, reform the Speaker first

The Speaker’s kangaroo court action in suspending Anwar Ibrahim, Karpal Singh, Azmin Ali and Sivarasa had given Barisan Nasional an unmandated 2/3 majority in Parliament, concluded

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http://www.mmail.com.my/content/58157-bn-regains-twothirds-control-house

BN regains two-thirds control of the House

Dangerous to amend Constitution, say analysts
NADIRAH H. RODZI

Friday, December 17th, 2010 12:49:00

PETALING JAYA: The chaos on the final day of the 12th Parliament's third session yesterday, which saw the suspension of four Pakatan Rakyat (PR) top guns which resulted in the Barisan Nasional (BN) regaining its two-thirds majority of the House, has sparked mixed response from political analysts.

Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) political analyst Dr Jeniri Amir said the two-thirds majority has serious implications.

"This is an advantage for BN. Although they are capable of bringing positive changes, the move by speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia is seen as not gentle. It will be dangerous if BN chooses to press on with amendments. Personally, I feel Azmin Ali's (PKR — Gombak) suspension is severe. He was just supporting the party's leader, as did other Opposition Members of Parliament (MP)," he said.
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The birthplace of Malaysia’s democracy, good old England, has this to state about the role of a Speaker:

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http://www.parliament.uk/about/mps-and-lords/principal/speaker/

“The Speaker is the chief officer and highest authority of the House of Commons and must remain politically impartial at all times”
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What happen on that day on infamy, a practice perhaps inspired by the disgraceful Perak power grab, had the malaise extended to the federal level. The administration system that the Brits left behind has been ravaged beyond recognition.

Procedures are disregarded and the rakyat certainly did not give BN a 2/3 majority. The Speaker who was once a minister in the prime minister department gave BN that. I certainly did not pay part of his RM14K a month to turn a civilized administration system upside down.

click to see enlarge image

And this is not the first time the Speaker revealed where his loyalty apparently and truly lies.

http://wangsamajuformalaysia.blogspot.com/2009/12/is-speaker-being-objective-or-partisan.html


What is more revolting to the man in the street is his previous proclamations:

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http://www.malaysia-today.net/archives/18405-speaker-should-be-impartial-pandikar-amin

Speaker Should Be Impartial - Pandikar Amin
Monday, 23 February 2009

He said that if a person was appointed speaker, "you are the Speaker of that particular Parliament or state assembly, and do not belong to any political party or to benefit a particular party."

A speaker should not be a servant to a certain political party, he said after opening the Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA) first sub-committee meeting on global financial crisis and its impact here Monday (23 Feb).
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A servant and a lackey are two very different desription

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http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=56836

Pandikar vows to be fair to all as Speaker

Published on: Friday, April 11, 2008

Kota Kinabalu: Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia, the former Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, has pledged to be fair to all in discharging his duties if he is chosen as the new Dewan Rakyat Speaker.

Pandikar Amin, who was informed by Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) Chairman Datuk Seri Musa Aman on Tuesday that he would be nominated for the post, said there was no denying that the sitting for 12th parliamentary term would be more challenging than previously as the number of opposition members had increased to 82 as against BN's 140, with many new faces among them.

"First and foremost, it's necessary to be fair to both sides, meaning we should listen, and listen well, to the voice of both sides," he said here Thursday.
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Yeah right, Ron Jeremy is a virgin.

Pandikar Amin’s latest action has convinced the voter in me that even a single seat majority is too many for BN. Voices of the rakyat are gagged by this undefendable action from the Speaker.

The BN administration this term has demonstrated time and again, in the case of minority interest, they are not interested at all. What happened in Perak and Sarawak, have been extended to federal level.

From a man in the street perspective, I feel that the Speaker should not be chosen from the elected MPs. It is almost impossible, human nature as it is, not to favour your previous political alignment, whether deliberately or otherwise.

If Manchester United is playing Chelsea in Old Trafford, would anyone mind if the referee is chosen from one of the non-playing Manchester United players or coaching staff?

Let's have a look at this
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaker_(politics)

There is one prominent case of a speaker who is not presiding officer. The New York City Council, the unicameral legislative body for New York City, has as its presiding officer the Public Advocate, a position formerly known as City Council President, who is elected by all the voters of the city. As the public advocate's role has changed with several city charter revisions, a post of Council Speaker was created. The speaker is, effectively, majority leader of the council
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If we were to have a totally and truly independent Speaker, by golly, when I look at the quality of grey matter on both side of political divide, Pakatan MPs would clobber the BN MPs in most of the debates. The rakyat will get the money’s worth, the truly qualified MPs would get their ideas through and the nation will benefit as a whole.

This tax payer says, to reform the governance of this country, given the dreadful performance of the 3 Speakers this time round, perhaps we have to consider this drastic step.

Report card for Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat by a tax payer

As we tax payers grind our teeth for another round of lopsided preaching by Barisan Nasional about a “subsidy rationalization” initiative, how many Malaysians realize that elected democratic leaders are suppose to listen to the rakyat and not the other way round?

The Speakers of our Parliament have cemented an impression in me that they are hardly balance and fair minded. Ironically in time of harga barang naik and desperate house wives amongst us, the Speakers who usually reject opposition motions and eject Pakatan wakil rakyats hence silencing the voices of rakyat, get a big fat salary increase. (an extract in English is attached as footnote of this article)

The recent trend I observe in Najib administration is the continuation of the tried and tested monolog preaching to rakyat, but in this era, attempting to ban cartoons, banish opposition newspapers plus meddling in the words of professional editors to describe the thunderbolt price increase, is insulting the rakyat’s intelligence and a damning indication of their opinion on their own education system.

You can’t move towards a high income economy with an ignorant population without the capability of receiving, assessing and forming their own opinion from conflicting and differing views.

This tax payer has observed the performance of both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan wakil rakyats since 2008 and hereby assert his right to voice his own opinion on the performance of both side of the political divide, not giving 2 hoots to whatever sketchy KPI maintained and reported by a defeated candidate in the last general election.

I am looking at 4 sectors and decide on my tax money’s worth:

Economy, social responsibility, political posturing and governance and justice.

Economy
Najib administration started with a bang with liberalization of 27 sectors and then launched at great cost and publicity the New Economic Model. After the initial lightning, the thunder came from Perkasa and it’s the first time I see one of the most powerful prime minister in the world cowered before a loose cannon, narrow minded and double crossing independent accidental wakil rakyat.

Not only Najib as the Prime and Finance Minister let Ibrahim Ali overrule his panel of economic advisers, but Najib has damaged the credibility of Bursa Malaysia Announcement (a fraudulent announcement is considered a commercial crime) when he pulled THAT one on Vincent Tan, who once had Ibrahim Ali under his payroll in Dunham Bush Malaysia Sdn Bhd.


According to Najib, he has launched a bold subsidy rationalization move but the only rational I can conclude is the rakyat will pay the same amount of tax but get less back. (Akan datang : GST).

The stuff that Tony Pua revealed from scrutinizing e-procurement and all those annuals AG reports findings suggest that there are other ways than to pick on poor men and women in the street to pay for past, current and future irresponsible and immoral spending by an established ruling coalition whose permanent rallying call is “bringing stability and development”, although one of their own minister mentioned that by 2019 the nation may go bankrupt.
I’ll interpret this as a hidden message that the rakyat must get rid of the incumbents before 2019.
In addition, the national debt has increased tremendously. Rakyat might want to know who took the foreigners’ money and asked us to repay the foreigners and bear the foreign exchange risk. Who benefited from the immediate availability of cash and who are left to be deprived and pay off the foreigners?

Najib strikes me as a cheque book prime minister, spending a lot on publicity, by-election in Bagan Pinang, Hulu Selangor and Sibu and automatic 9A scholarship (which makes one wonder why just 1 year ago, it is so damn hard for top scorers to get a scholarship who ended up as brain drain). This I cannot reconcile with the accusation that the tax paying rakyat are bankrupting his and her own country. Should we sue for slander and libel?

On the contrary, Pakatan ruled states seem to be a CFO’s dream – doing more with less. Since the last GE, federal funding for Pakatan controlled states are much much harder to come by compared to days before.

However, Penang just needed a few million a year to eliminate most hardcore poor, turned a potential deficit into surplus with RM100 to old folks above 60 years old while Selangor state government has warga usia emas, tawas, free water and free tuition schemes.

I would rate Perak as the most innovative state with the land for school and resolving the land title issue that BN can’t resolve for 50 years. We are robbed of a chance to see and enjoy further innovative and rakyat-friendly schemes that could have been developed from thereon.

My money goes to Pakatan on this count


Social responsibility
For the first time ever, Malaysians have religious terrorism in our own backyard. I thought the cow head idiots in Shah Alam were bad, fire bombing churches are even worse. If politicians think this is an acceptable means to achieve their selfish aims, go to a war ravaged country – Rwanda, Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq - and take a look yourselves. If you wish for such things in our own countries, you are committing treason and accessory to mass murder.
While Najib was quickly on the scene to give some money (cheque! I hear chess players scream) to the affected church in Melawati and quickly condemn the act, I hold Barisan Nasional responsible for the social environment in Malaysia as they control the police, press and every public service under the sun.
The emergence of Perkasa in the midst of 1Malaysia campaign cast a huge doubt in me over the political will of Barisan Nasional for inter-racial harmony. Inter-faith dialogue, is again a taboo subject.

Pakatan Rakyat, however, inadvertently seems to have a successful one. DAP with its socialist and secular bearing while PAS with its religious spine have found common ground – justice and welfare for the public.

While over 50 years, Barisan Nasional has repeatedly emphasizing the differences of various races in Malaysia, Pakatan, for the time being instead, focus on common ground to forge unity; a formula suitable to glue multi-ethnic society together to celebrate and leverage diversity; something Barisan Nasional has failed to do so after more than half a century.

A damning conclusion can be drawn from the BHP incident. A Chinese man desperately screaming for a fire extinguisher but the unthinking and fear stricken employees refused to budge hence the trapped Indian lady was burnt to death in her car.

This is the result of a crime-ridden environment, an environment that stifle initiative and reasoning as well as after years of indoctrination from the highest level, to teach the population to differentiate, discriminate, doubt and even hate each other. Shining examples in Nasir Safat and Ahmad Ismail. Even the response from the chief of BHP following the public outcry is poor, especially compared to this.

http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC100714-0000108/DBS-Group-CEO-apologises

"You have every right to expect uninterrupted services 24/7, 365 days a year from us, and I am sorry we have failed you on that count," he wrote.

The apology, eight days after the incident occurred, is the second that DBS and Mr Gupta have offered for the massive crash. That same day, he said the bank regretted what had happened.

Yesterday, the apologies were more profuse and, for the first time, more light was shed on what triggered the seven-hour system outage: A routine repair job that went awry.

Compare tha above with the UMNO style apology - "I am sorry if you are offended" - professional politicians true and true.


While I do not see a great deal from Pakatan in this respect, Barisan Nasional has much more negatives than positive. I want a government who teaches the people to love, not to hate.


Political posturing
Anwar Ibrahim, I feel, made a mistake with his high profile September 16 posturing. He should have focused on strengthening Pakatan’s emerging governance machinery and as a result tax payers have to foot 50 MPs holiday bills. Also, many fence sitters' confidence have been shaken.

Some of the PKR candidates selected for election have also damaged public confidence in Pakatan Rakyat. Given the lack of brave and selfless citizens who dare to step forward and be counted for, dare we criticize too much over the selection made out from limited choices?

As much as I despise the frogs who have cheated the voters (I have yet to hear one frog mentioned that he or she leave Pakatan because the voters told him or her to do so), I have to take this as a part of the political struggle for, hopefully, a better tomorrow.

While we hear so much about Pakatan wakil rakyat jumping ship for personal reasons or whatever, how many Barisan wakil rakyat do we hear jumping ship because he or she disagree with the rakyat-unfriendly policies? Fat chance except the 2 from Sabah, they can’t even speak out against the annual budget or ad hoc price increase.

For the first time in history, political gamesmanship has cost a life in Malaysia. (The Mona Fandy case does not count). Until now, we do not know what crime Teoh Beng Hock was a witness to until he has to commit suicide the night before he was due to register his marriage with his pregnant fiancée.

The subsequent denial, evasive maneuver and even the act of threatening an expert from a fellow Asean country suggests concealed guilt, rather than a reputable institution carrying out its duty with a clear conscience. It is infuriating to this tax payer that MACC has remain a political tool, ranging from harassing of Pakatan to the symbolic recruitment of Chinese officers and a single apology note not in the national language to the family of Teoh Beng Hock.

The victimization of Elizabeth Wong showed a desperate lack of Barisan Selangor’s ability to win with substance, as well as the low status of women in the eyes of chauvinistic political leaders, an accusation I make without the benefit of being a fly on their wall. If my bank manager is having sex with her boyfriend in her own free time and in her own home, would I be tempted to move all my fixed deposits and credit facilities to another bank? I can’t think of anything more mundane and normal.

Not only this incident offended Eli Wong and all women folks of Malaysia, it is also a huge insult to all sensible voters who were taken as dumb enough to revolt against a functioning administration base on intrusion of privacy and voyeurism.

The active voter recruitment drive by Pakatan Rakyat shows a great initiative to get more rakyat to realize and exercise their rights. I applaud this initiative as in substance, it empowers, enables and educates the people. By comparison, Barisan Nasional controlled Berita Harian could only reveal their mathematics prowess by saying new non-malay voters out number malay votes by 40 to 1 in a country where Malays constitute 65% of the population.


Both have disappointed the rakyat but again the damages from Barisan out weight its own contribution and Pakatan’s shortcoming.


Governance and justice

Many people hold Pakatan responsible for failure to hold local council election. This is a justified criticism to the extend that they did not put in enough high profile initiative although I expected Barisan Nasional to resist to the death such election, going by the voting trend in all state capitals and Kuala Lumpur. Effectively the federal government of Malaysia is a hillbilly elected administration.

Barisan’s Election Commission has given Pakatan some breathing space by denying the holding of local council election, heads or tails, the Commission lost.

Selangor state government has tabled the Freedom of Information Act and this stands out like a sore thumb amidst OSA, ISA and Printing Press Act and represents an opportunity to Malaysians to experience a paradigm shift from feudal herb mentality to more assertive, rights-conscious and mature democracy outlook, hopefully.

By comparison, Barisan Nasional having 14 coalition parties with many defeated personalities necessitates the appointment of voters-rejects as ministers and senators; understandable from a political point of view but it also points to a strong disregard of people’s choice

The Penang state government has gain international recognition in its effort to eradicate corruption and showed it meant business with the reward of RM10,000 to a judge who uncovered malpractices; I speculate that Khalid Ibrahim is unpopular with certain quarters because in removing the age-old patronage-reward tradition, people will get offended.


Lastly, enough said about the Perak power grab episode, that alone will tip my pick for Pakatan in this respect.

Pakatan Rakyat win by streets on this count.

I stated my view, what's yours?
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Footnote - Speaker's revised benefits as per the Chinese press report

Monthly allowance increase from RM7K to RM9860; (on top of RM6K as salary of a wakil rakyat)

RM10K appointment fee and another RM10K retirement fee

Claims from oversea vacation without supporting documents RM2K per month

Housing allowance increase from RM3K to RM4K;

Free exquisite cutley for up to 50 people;

Renovation allowance RM10K per annum

Housing loan increased from RM480K to RM720K plus RM5K renovation reimbursement

Government bear the salary and benefits of 2 drivers (increase from one)

Winter clothing allowance of RM6K every 3 years, increased from RM6K

Business class flight seat for the wife (what about husband?) and many other benefits for the spouse

Telephone allowance increased from RM500 to RM1K

Telephone purchase allowance increased from RM2K to RM3K and RM3.5K allowance every 3 years to purchase PDA

First instance of NEM at work?

According to page 112 of the NEM 200 ++ pages booklet, "The NEAC assigns a large measure of importance to the government’s proper management of the political situation. Peace and harmony must be preserved in Malaysia in the midst of the likely disruptions from the NEM. This might involve not only close consultations within the political partners of the government but also conscious efforts to forge bipartisan interaction"

Nice words but given the Parliament Speakers' history of constantly disallowing opposition motions, punitive actions on opposition politicians (red card for Tony Pua for standing up while how many BN MPs been referred to Committee of Privilege you can remember?) and seemingly "protecting" BN from debates and disclosure, or even plainly displaying their bias. Come on lah, BN has ruled Malaysia for 50 ++ years surely they can hold their own in engaging, debating and winning over the opposition in Parliament without resorting to Speakers' protection?

Or given the inequal quality available amongst the rank of BN and Pakatan Rakyat, proper debate is a course of action best avoided by a ruling coalition that constantly flaunt its impeccable track record and engage in sloganeering?

The proof of NEM pie is in the eating and the Speaker has, in my impression, not live up to the document. We also heard stories about how Pakatan MPs were barred from distributing masks to schools during H1N1 crises, or even a school in Melaka not accepting donations from PR for whatever rational reasons....

Together with the emergence and tacit support available to PERKASA, NEM has really gotten off an inauspicious start or do we have to wait for consultation and formulation first?