democratic accountability.
Hello and Good Day,
How are you? Hope you’re in the best health. I have started posting vlogs on my YouTube channel. I hope you guys are enjoying it. I am very thankful for all the support and comments made publicly and privately on improving the content. And with that, it comes with accountability for any sharing I’ve made publicly.
On today’s topic, I want to share something very heavy. I am going to talk about politics. As you know, getting involved in politics, especially in Malaysia, is viewed as not preferable. The political system and party have been perceived to be highly influenced and experienced with endemic corruption, kleptocracy, cronyism, and power fights.
Lately, since GE 15, I have been heavily hooked on the political affairs in Malaysia. Since the formation of the Unity Government, state election, the DNAA of Zahid Hamidi’s case up until the latest sittings during tabling the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) Mid-Term Review (MTR). I can share with you one great lesson I learned, which is;
democratic accountability.
Democratic accountability is defined as an ideal and an achievement and partially constitutive of democratic government. Democratic accountability implies governance based on feedback, learning from experience, and the informed consent of the governed.
Citizens are neither the initial authors of laws and budgets nor the designers of the political order under which they live. But they are not powerless. Although most decisions are made by elected representatives, appointed officials, and other power holders, rulers still should be appropriately accountable to the ruled.
However, a rising number of demands for explanations and justifications indicate the limits of popular acceptance, allegiance, and support. This chapter outlines elements of an analytical framework for thinking about the interrelations between democratic accountability, political order, and orderly change, that is, how democratic accountability processes are affected by an existing political order and how they, in turn, affect that order.
During tabling the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) Mid-Term Review (MTR), the PM wind up the motion with much brouhaha instead of focusing on the topic. One of the topics is about distributing fair allocation to the MPs.
I’ve been listening to a podcast by Khairy Jamaluddin, the former MP for Rembau and Shahril Hamdan, a Malaysian politician who served as the Economic Director at the Prime Minister's Office under the PM-9 administration. The session briefly discussed fair allocation to all MPs. Since PKR is a major political party within the PH-BN administration, does PKR truly want to bring the reform agenda forward?
I do have an opinion on this.
Looking back on how PN as an ineffective opposition playing 3R (races, religion and royal) during their election campaigns, the economic model presented during The Economy Debate session, the Dewan Rakyat debates and many more, it is quite fair to say they are not ready to give such accountability - bearing high amount of Rakyat’s money.
The very basic of accountability is an assurance that an individual or organisation is evaluated on its performance or behaviour related to something for which it is responsible.
The term is related to responsibility but is regarded more from the oversight and overall perspective. For example, an MP may ensure that a response to a request meets the stipulated requirements. And this requirement as an accountable MP does not yet reflect on how they behave in front of the public.
That includes allocation. We are talking about thousands of ringgit of taxpayers’ money to be spent meticulously and carefully. With that, good governance is required.
Take an example of us as employees in an organisation. We are required to submit a petrol receipt for travel claims. The value per trip easily costs more or less than RM 100. For big corporations, it shouldn’t be a problem to directly reimburse because as we provide services to the company, we also provide more than that, such as staying late to complete tasks or attending late-night meetings. Why does the organisation impose such a strict policy?
This is what we call good governance. Without this policy, there is a chance the employee might not be transparent in submitting their claims. And it should apply to the MPs as well. And I commend PMX for holistically bringing forward the reform agenda with this approach - supply and confidence agreement before receiving the allocation.
Instead of demanding fair treatment on allocation, can we demand the transparency of each MP as an example to the public? After all, leading by example is the model behaviour we want to see in mature democratic MP.
Phew, what a heavy topic! Hope to catch up with you soon. Meanwhile, please like my video on YouTube here.
I will speak to you soon,
EMIR xx
Disclaimers: This is a personal blog I wrote and edited personally. All opinions expressed are my own, which are honest and have not been influenced by any means.
