Changing Prime Minister will not solve the problem

 

By: Ai Qian (translated name)

China Press, March 8^th 2016.

The former Prime Minister again demanded the present Prime Minister to step down. Such incidents seem to be very familiar and it happened a few years ago. I think it is still fresh in everyone`s memory. Whenever this type of case history repeats, it is usually sad or ridiculous and very seldom it begets a good ending.

The sad or ridiculous destiny of the political figures has nothing to do with the public. Even though the public may want to interfere but they are powerless. If incidents of forcing the Prime Minister to step down happen for many years together with nonstop political tussles, it will affect peace and harmony among the Rakyat. Furthermore it will also affect government policies and the administrative machinery. In the long term, development of the whole nation will be badly affected.

However the continuous political tussle is not solely the personal problem between the Prime Minister and the former one alone. All Malaysians should bear a part of the responsibility for these conniving politicians. If Malaysia is forever trapped in the whirlpool of the rule of man, political struggle or infighting will always happen all the time. Today the former Prime Minister launches an attack, tomorrow will be followed by others following the footsteps of the predecessor. This will cause the nation to be mired in the shadows of power struggle and we will never have peace. Every few years such political incident will resurface and it has already happened. It is not only a personal problem but a serious problem of the national social structure.

Democracy is not solely through voting

Although Malaysia is prepared for election since Independence, the Rakyat has the right to vote only once in five years. Other than that, the politician is free to do what they think is right. In contrast to developed countries, the people have a wide range of political clouts like recalling, impeachment, public opinions and other measures to check and balance of power. All these measures can force the politician to step down or changing an unfavourable policy. Democracy is not just voting. Malaysia has only the form of democracy but doesn`t have the real basic tenets of democracy.

Malaysians must discard the fantasy of a monarch or prominent figure to emerge to help and save the sufferings of the masses. Having a perfect system of governance is more important than having a good leader. All this while, all of us are assuming a change for a good leader who will make the future of the nation brighter. However after changing a few Prime Ministers, the value of the Ringgit is still depreciating, the security of the society turns from bad to worse, environmental issues are getting worse, an economic downturn and others. Are Malaysians living in a better condition? We should face reality very seriously. In fact changing or substituting the Prime Minister will not solve the problems.

We should have the courage to discuss the weaknesses of current policies and study ways to improve and ratify them. Besides that we should also learn from past experience of other countries and let the people have the right to observe, supervise, check and balance of the government mechanism and capabilities. These are difficult political tasks which will not have immediate results but it provides an opportunity to change our national system.