The Malaysian Insight

BARISAN Nasional’s manifesto to amend the Malacca constitution to allow the appointment of five assemblymen from civil society and youth group may support good diversity but could be open to abuse, observers said.

The ruling party could use it to its advantage by nominating partisans of the government of the day, said the pundits.

Lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla told The Malaysian Insight the state constitution could be amended with the support of a two-third majority in the state assembly.

“Then it becomes constitutional and legal. But is it democratic or moral? That is a different question,” he said.

The Sabah constitution allows the nomination of up to six non-elected representatives to the state assembly but Haniff questioned whether this had benefited the state.

There were concerns after last year’s Sabah elections that the new Chief Minister Hajiji Noor of Bersatu would abuse the privilege and people friendly to the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah alliance, which includes Perikatan Nasional.

As a result, for the first time in Sabah’s history, Islamist party PAS was able to get a seat in the state assembly. Sabah PAS secretary Dr Aliakbar Gulasan was the man nominated to the seat.

Haniff said while such a mechanism might be legal, it was not in line with the democratic principle that people ought to elect their legislators.

“What will happen is that if the government of the day manages to amend the constitution to have it done, as much as they do with the appointment of important positions in GLC’s and other authorities, you will find people of their own camp being appointed under the guise of NGOs or youth groups.

“That is not democracy,” he added.

He said the proposal to increase the seats should be brought to the Election Commission for consideration, and elections should be held for the additional seats.

“Appointments will only open up further avenues, under the guise of democracy, to abuse the power of the majority. That is wrong,” he said.

Haniff said it is best for the candidates from civil societies and youth to run for elections.

“If you want to have wider representation, why doesn’t Barisan Nasional put in more candidates from the NGOs and youths. This is the question they must answer truthfully and sincerely,” he said.

Political analyst Dr Awang Azman Awang Pawi likened the proposed amendment to playing with a sharp weapon.

“If it is used wisely, it can give the Malacca state government stability to form a strong government.

“However, if the amendment is misused, it will lead to abuse of power without proper check and balance.

“This can also lead to political manipulation whereby the side that lost 16 seats can still form a government with the five appointments. Therefore, the procedure has to be studied carefully so that it is not abused,” said the Universiti Malaya academic.

Senior Fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, Dr Oh Ei Sun said the government of the day will prefer to appoint candidates who are friendly to them.

“It will then increase the majority of the ruling coalition.

“While in principle, I don’t object to this sort of additional appointments, but I think the number is excessive. The Sabah state assembly already has 73 (elected) seats and six additional members.”

“Malacca with 28 (seats) wants to appoint an additional five….I think it is too much. I think it should be three at most.”

Although BN can claim this mechanism will help ensure political stability, Oh said there can be no such guarantees as an elected assemblyman can still jump ship to another party.

This happened in Sabah to the Warisan-led state government, which triggered the elections last year, Oh pointed out.

Ilham centre’s executive director Hisomuddin Bakar feels BN’s proposal for this mechanism is aimed at solidifying the coalition’s position in Malacca, should it win the elections with a slim majority.

“This can also be interpreted as BN not being confident to win big in the state elections and it needs additional assemblymen to strengthen the Malacca state government,” the pollster said.

“It also appears as if BN is putting their political survival before the people’s welfare.”

The proposal was announced by BN deputy chairman Mohamad Hasan when launching the coalition’s manifesto for the Malacca elections over the weekend.

He said BN will amend the state constitution to allow the appointment of five additional assemblymen representing the youth and civil society groups to ensure political stability in the state, if it wins the polls. – November 14, 2021.