If Autonomy Means Non-Interference, It Simply Does Not Work

 

The Myth of Autonomy in Malaysian Politics

When the late Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim was Menteri Besar, PKR President, Anwar Ibrahim pressured him to step down. 

        Although I personally preferred Khalid over his successor, Azmin Ali, what Anwar did was right and not 'dictatorial' as some would try to put it. The only problem is he had no one in terms of seniority who was qualified enough to be the Menteri Besar other than Azmin. 

        (If I had the choice, I would put Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud as the Menteri Besar although she is from Amanah. After all, we have a good female Chief Justice, what is stopping us from having a female as Menteri Besar except that Dr Siti Mariah has decided to opt out of politics to spend time with her grandchildren. She may, for the sake of the state, agree to continue for another term just like what Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad agreed to contest, giving him sufficient time to find a replacement).

Not a Dictator

        The truth is Anwar was exercising his duty as the chief in his own party. Although Selangor was given the autonomy, autonomy can not mean non-interference which, unfortunately, the late Khalid failed to understand. 

        Khalid's position was appointed by the party. Despite his growing popularity, the party can remove it at any moment, especially on matters pertaining to poor performance or sheer defiance. 

        I do not remember Khalid stating why Anwar had put pressure on him to step down. Like it or not, rumours have it that there were some reasons why Khalid was pressured to step down. It is only that we cannot verify the rumours. 

        Assuming that now Anwar is aware of corruption, hint of defiance or poor performance by any appointed Menteri Besar, as the Prime Minister, he has the right to terminate the office of the Menteri Besar. 

        Same with the Penang Chief Minister who is appointed by the DAP. The DAP chairman, Lim Guan Eng on consultation with his senior party members have the right to terminate the Chief Minister's post. 

        Anwar as Prime Minister can also do the same with any Menteri Besar that is picked from any coalition party member but, of course, this is usually done in consultation with the party chief from whichever party the Menteri Besar is from. 

        So, honestly, autonomy has its limits. Someone as senior as Menteri Besar or Chief Minister in the state cannot assume that he has the supreme power or his position is secure. 

        Autonomy does not mean non-interference. Unless of course, if the interference from the top means compromising on matters of integrity, the Menteri Besar or Chief Minister can openly resign and provide evidence of abuse of power from the top.

        For example, if Anwar insists that the Bukit Lagong (which is now a big issue in Selangor) should be allowed to be quarried, and the Menteri Besar of Selangor, Amirudin Shaari objected, Amirudin can tender his resignation out of protest.

        However, Amirudin has to produce evidence that Anwar has instructed him against his personal convictions as a man of integrity. Or else, no one will believe Amirudin. 

        In exercising the right to hire and fire, politicians like the CEO of an organisation, also has to exercise discretion, but the the Prime Minister's right to fire based on evidence provided should not be politicised.

Real Issues on the Ground

        The above is only hypothetical but the real issue on the ground is in my home state where I have been complaining that the state has gone from bad to worse, to the point that even Azmin Ali calls it the 'Negeri Darul Sampah.' 

        What I want to see is improvement to the state of Selangor. I cannot care for other states, but what affects me daily is what happens at the ground level in my own neighbourhood.

        When people posted photographs of illegal dumps in a chat group I created as citizens' eyes and ears, the solid wastes contractor, KDEB will always respond immediately to clean up the illegal dump. 

        However, how much can the workers do to solve the illegal dump if the people placed in charge of the zones pretend that nothing has happened?

        The objective of the Whatsapp group is to help the Member of Parliament, State Assemblyman and Local Councillors to monitor the performance of the local council. 

        In fact, I had suggested that the Resident Associations should be mandated to carry out regular audits of their own housing estate so that any issues can be reported on a periodic basis and repairwork monitored by the local councillors.

        This is because the local council being the third tier of government is most important to us because their actions or most of the time, their lackadaisical attitude, is what irks most of us. 

        One reason why we slammed hard on Barisan Nasional in the past is because every time we hit a pothole, we blamed it on the government of the day. Complaints that began at the local council's Complaints unit, for example, gradually climbed up the ladder one level after another to the State Assemblyman in charge of the local government. 

        My journalistic activism started because of Kuala Lumpur City Hall's failure to clear a tree stump next to my neighbour's shop. The auntie had complained to me saying that she saw a small snake wriggling out of the tree trunk. 

        One reason why civilians are still calling for local council election is because they cannot stand political parties that continue to use the local councillors' position to reward their loyalists. 

        While this is a good platform to put potential state assemblymen to the test, non-performing councillors should be removed.  For example, Lee Khai Loon who used to be the local councillor in my zone has become a state assemblyman in Penang.

        This is why I have said that Selangor, now coming to the end of the third term,  the failure of the State Government will reflect badly on Pakatan Harapan. Compared to Penang, for three consecutive terms, the PH state government in Selangor has failed to revamp the local government. 

        Their failure has cost the state millions of Ringgit when local councils continue to waste the public funds on meaningless projects. For example, when we complained of a hidden corner in our housing estate that is piling up with rubbish, all the former councillor said was, "We will install CCTV." 

        I guess he has gotten what he wanted (another CCTV installed), but after so many months, all I could find is a CCTV board on the pile of rubbish. I doubt if any culprit had been issued a summon for the illegal dumping. I am sure the CCTV would not lie (click the photograph to view more photographs).

Revamp Now Before State Election

        It is my hope that now, with the Minister of Local Government and Development, Nga Kor Ming, the unity government will be able to do a thorough revamp. 

        This is because, whether PH, BN or PN, the third tier of government is very important to the voters' living conditions. For example, if we know that the Opposition sabotages the local councils, the price to pay will be very heavy. Likewise, those who think they can continue to win the state election are only dreaming if they themselves fail to control the local councils.

        The fact that even the ministry is named differently, with so much emphasis on the local government, may give us the hint that Anwar and Nga are fully aware of the problems on the ground. 

        State exco who are non-performing should be removed. Politicians can no longer count on popularity within their own parties to continue to helm positions that affect the people. 

        Both State Assemblypersons and Members of Parliament should take their turns to make their presence felt on the ground. I think several lawmakers who have been consistently practising the Management by Walkabout find that their votes shot up very high, compared to those who are found only on ivory towers. 

        People often would not complain if things are in good order, neither would they bring it to the press as the problems are nipped at the bud. 

        But when problems are not solved despite complaints going up the hierarchy, from the Aduan unit at local councils, the heads of department, the local councillor, the Council president (or mayor), state assemblyman, member of parliament, state exco and Menteri Besar, people will obviously put the blame on the chain of command. 

        For example, in my case, two political parties are to be blamed for the way how the local council continues to drag their feet. I have been whacking one particular party because of the number of senior people I have highlighted the issues to, but there was silence. 

        Failure of the local councillor, member of parliament and state exco to solve issues on the ground should have been nipped at the bud. I hope to see improvement moving forward and polticians realise that, if they cannot solve the problems on the ground, they are as good as deadwood. 

        Just today, I have showcased the example of another council chief who responded to a complaint almost immediately because the council has its own standards of what is acceptable; and since this was a non-compliance issue to its own guidelines, when the council chief sent his men and they discovered the complaint was genuine, action was carried out immediately. They did not drag their feet, unlike the local council where I have had to deal with for the past three years. 

        The bottomline is this: If autonomy means non-interference, it simply would not work because it is the culture of monkeys that when the dominant male is not around, everyone starts to monkey around. It is the people who suffers as a result. 

        Autonomy has to come with responsibilty. While jobs can be delegated, responsibility cannot. Borrowing a distorted quote from Sherlock Holmes, let me end by saying, "Elementary, my dear Watson." And to be fair to the fiction figure so many of us have come to love, the line was: 

        "Excellent! I cried. "Elementary," said he.

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