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By Mihar Dias (C) Copyright December 2022
An MoU that was signed recently to allow Anwar Ibrahim to gain majority in a vote of confidence may be "unconstitutional" and "illegal".
If so, this seems to be the beginning of the end of true democracy in Malaysia as we know it, where an MP who is elected by the people has to bend over to comply with the demands of party leaders rather than stand on their own to fight for their constituents with clear conscience.
With this MoU, they are forced to vote according to the wishes of the party leadership. They cannot exercise their individual rights and vote freely, guided only by their own conscience.
Masjid Tanah Member of Parliament Ermieyati Samsudin said that according to clause 4(b) of the recently concluded MoU, if a parliamentarian fails to vote in support of a "unity" government they will be deemed as having vacated their seat based on Article 49A of the Federal Constitution.
"This agreement is illegal, unconstitutional and cannot be enfored. If you look closely at Article 49A a seat cannot be vacated, just by the way a member of parliament voted, it only covers situations where a member of parliament resigns or ceases to be a member of his party ” said Ermieyati Samsudin, who is also the vice president of Srikandi Bersatu Malaysia.
Is Malaysia a country with democracy or has it become a nation led by despots? Or have our leaders become so unpopular with the majority that they have to wield a big stick just to gain respect?
Is our Prime Minister who initially welcomes a vote of confidence so enthusiastically now having second thoughts that he requires an iron clad memorandum to ensure that MPs do not break ranks when the time comes?
We do not believe that Anwar would resort to arm twisting just to obtain support from MPs.
"This new type of despotism has never been witnessed before in the history of Malaysian politics or parliament. Forcing parliamentarians to vote according to instructions is the same as the system in North Korea or China, such things have no place in the Malaysian democratic system," said Ermieyati Samsudin.
Ermieyati urges MPs to perform their duties without fear and not be threatened by an illegal MoU.
"I would like to call on all members of parliament to vote according to what is best for the county and for the people, and to always vote with a conscience."
She is not alone in questioning the practice. Andrew Khoo, the Bar Council's constitutional law committee co-chairman in a statement quoted by the press, said an automatic resignation clause in the MoU effectively disallows an MP to vote as they wish. He was doubtful if the auto-resign clause would even stand in a court of law or even be enforced.
Khoo said "Being penalised for expressing your right to disagree" is "extreme".
"It raises serious questions about the kind of democracy that we are practising in Malaysia," he added.
I personally agree wholeheartedly with Ermieyati when she said that the agreement is "one of the most dangerous threats to the Malaysian democracy system" because if we allow this to happen, where shall it end?
It might even be replaced by a pseudo-democratic system that is labelled as "guided democracy", popular during the days when Soekarno ruled Indonesia because his people, he said, was not yet ready for real democracy then.
Also, when it comes to voting, whatever the issues might be, we pray that they would vote with their conscience and not be intimidated by anyone in the opposition or those in the government of the day.
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