Denison Jayasooria and Faisal S Hazis, both of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, told FMT it looked like the Malaysian opposition had been crippled, making it necessary to have a self-governing body to provide checks and balances.
Jayasooria said the establishment of the Council of Elders made the administration seem too elitist and at odds with the new egalitarian spirit noticeable among the masses.
He said ordinary members of the public had become highly active in voicing their opinions on developments taking place with the new government.
“They are very active now on social media,” he said, adding that they seemed to have realised they had a role in the democratic process.
He also noted that even civic groups that used to be non-aligned had come out in support of PH during the election campaign period.
Consultation with these groups, he said, was now key to filling the gap left behind by the lack of a strong opposition.
“They need a formal mechanism to have consultations. It’s not enough to depend just on the media and the Council of Elders. There is a need for a social accountability group made up of ordinary citizens and NGOs.”
Faisal said politicians could be brought into the proposed council provided that both the ruling regime and the opposition were represented.
Speaking on the Council of Elders, he said its terms of reference and tenure must be clearly defined.
“They can’t be there forever because they are not elected representatives. We don’t want them to become like the alleged Level Four Boys of Abdullah Badawi’s time.”
The “Level Four Boys” was a term coined by Dr Mahathir Mohamad. It referred to an alleged inner circle composed of Abdullah’s son Kamaluddin Abdullah, son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin and close personal aides such as Ahmad Zaki Zahid, Kamal Khalid, Vincent Lim Kian Tick and a few others.
The supposed function of the circle was to assist the prime minister, but there were rumours that its members were the real decision makers.
Free space
Faisal acknowledged that reforms would generally take time, but he said a few needed to be undertaken immediately and the council he and Jayasooria were proposing had to be in place to ensure this.
“Promoting free space for expression and academic freedom, depoliticising bureaucracies, ensuring that the Election Commission is independent – all of these need to be done immediately,” he said.
When it came to replacing some top government officials, he said, this should be done with the intention of instituting reforms and not out of vengeance.
“We want bureaucracy leaders who are independent-minded, who can tell off the powers that be, who can put knowledge and truth first and not their political masters. If we have people who are not of this type, then by all means change them.”
Jayasooria voiced a similar opinion, saying the media and academia, especially, should be free to express the truth.
“They cannot just be praising the prime minister for everything. If you criticise a policy, you should not be put in a disadvantaged situation.”
Jayasooria also weighed in on the controversy sparked by PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli’s criticism of Mahathir’s announcement that he had appointed three ministers.
He agreed with the opinion that Rafizi should have complained through proper channels.
“It is important for Pakatan leaders and MPs to know that they are now the ruling government and are no longer like cowboys from the Wild West,” he said. “Anything they say or do could undermine the government or the impression of it held by the public and the markets.”
He added, however, that this did not mean decisions should not be challenged.
“The backbenchers should be free to question rather than just act like chorus singers for the Cabinet, the way it was before. Otherwise, internal checks and balances will not be there and, over time, there will be compromises to the manifesto.”