No one man is bigger than Malaysia
Zan Azlee
August 6, 2015 11:52 MYT
August 6, 2015 11:52 MYT
Zan Azlee stresses that his homeland Malaysia is bigger and more important than any individual or political party.
Bahawasanya negara kita Malaysia mendukung cita-cita hendak:
- Mencapai perpaduan yang lebih erat di kalangan seluruh masyarakatnya;
- Memelihara satu cara hidup demokratik;
- Mencipta satu masyarakat adil di mana kemakmuran Negara akan dapat dinikmati bersama secara adil dan saksama;
- Menjamin satu cara liberal terhadap tradisi-tradisi kebudayaannya yang kaya dan berbagai corak; dan
- Membina satu masyarakat progresif yang akan menggunakan sains dan teknologi moden.
Maka kami, rakyat Malaysia, berikrar akan menumpukan seluruh tenaga dan usaha kami untuk mencapai cita-cita tersebut berdasarkan atas prinsip-prinsip yang berikut :
KEPERCAYAAN KEPADA TUHAN;
KESETIAAN KEPADA RAJA DAN NEGARA;
KELUHURAN PERLEMBAGAAN;
KEDAULATAN UNDANG-UNDANG;
KESOPANAN DAN KESUSILAAN
If you are a Malaysian and hold dear the fact that this is your country, these words will ring true. We are taught this the minute we enter the larger Malaysian society - primary school.
If you need those words to be translated to another language other than Bahasa Malaysia for you to understand it, then shame on you.
The Rukunegara is our pledge of allegiance to Malaysia and it's people. It is not a pledge to stay blindly loyal to our elected leaders, nor is it an oath to put full faith in one political party.
It calls upon us as Malaysians to strive to do whatever it takes to achieve our ambitions of creating a country that is united, democratic, fair, just, liberal and progressive.
This pledge and ambition transcends any individual or political party no matter how influential he or they are. It is bigger than what many people can even imagine.
What matters most is that we need to respect and preserve the institutions that are sacred to the country. However, the way the system works in Malaysia makes this very challenging.
The executive holds an abundance of power that even trumps the legislature and judiciary branches of government. Ideally, all three branches should act independent of each other.
Although the system in Malaysia is supposed to have separation of powers between the branches, the lines aren't really clear. Members of the executive (the Cabinet) are also members of the legislature.
In Malaysia, a Prime Minister holds influence in the appointment of many positions of power in all three of these branches. It’s just the way politics in this country is structured.
So it is absolutely legal from a technical point of view that a Prime Minister builds a team or Cabinet that is aligned with him and his leadership.
This is legal according to the Federal Constitution, at least until the next General Election is held where it is required by law to have a new government elected by the people.
However, according to Article 40 (2) of the Federal Constitution, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong has the authority to act on his discretion to appoint the Prime Minister or dissolve Parliament.
This can happen in a scenario where the Prime Minister fails to command the confidence of the members of Parliament. Or, as stated above, based on the discretion of the YDP Agong.
So, if and when we see Malaysia stumbling in times of scandalous and controversial crisis, we just need to take a step back and review our priorities.
It is not about who is the Prime Minister nor is it about any political party.
It is about preserving institutions that were put in place to ensure the success of our country and it’s people.