The Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) welcomes Datuk Johari Abdul on his appointment as Dewan Rakyat Speaker.

His appointment comes with very high expectations to carry out his duties firmly, impartially and fairly in what is anticipated to be a very challenging situation ahead in Parliament due to new alignments formed among parties.

IDEAS also congratulates Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for having succeeded in winning a vote of confidence, which will further stabilize the current political situation.

Commenting on the situation, IDEAS CEO Dr. Tricia Yeoh says, “We congratulate the current government on its developments today. IDEAS hopes that the successful vote of confidence provides the government and the investing community assurance of political stability, which is so crucial in ensuring policy is implemented effectively.”

Nevertheless, IDEAS would like to express strong concern over an auto-resign clause in the unity government’s Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), in which Members of Parliament from coalition parties are deemed to have resigned their positions should they vote as they wish on any procedural matter in Parliament.

“This move goes against the principle of freedom of association and borders on authoritarian behavior, since Members of Parliament need to exercise their individual judgement on policy and legal matters and may on occasion take positions that differ from their political party.

“We fear that in the government’s desire to achieve stability, it is instead pursuing a path towards curbing dissent,” stated Dr. Yeoh.

On this note, IDEAS would like to reiterate Perikatan Nasional’s vital role as the opposition.

As such, forming a shadow cabinet should be instituted as soon as possible to ensure checks and balances on the government.

Following Perikatan Nasional’s public statement on November 30 that they are in the midst of forming a shadow cabinet, the expectations would fall on the shadow cabinet ministers to hold up their end of the bargain and perform according to their portfolios.

Moving forward, IDEAS looks forward to working with all political parties to continue pursuing legislative institutional reform such as the Political Financing Act, Constituency Development Funds Act, Government Procurement Act and Fiscal Responsibility Act.

In particular, meetings with the newly appointed Speaker and Minister of Law and Institutional Reform, as well as leaders of the various political blocs, including Opposition Leader, will be crucial.

Finally, IDEAS fully supports the recent statement by the Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan, Tuanku Muhriz ibni almarhum Tuanku Munawir that the executive branch should not have the exclusive benefit of nominating any of the nine members for the Judicial Appointments Committee (JAC).

To improve on existing weaknesses as well as ensure greater independence of the judiciary, the suggestion to devolve such powers to other institutional bodies such as the Malaysian Bar and Parliament’s special select committees must be considered seriously.

In the coming days, IDEAS will remain consistent in scrutinizing appointments made by the 10th Malaysian Prime Minister.

This includes the Attorney General, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Chief and the Election Commission Chief.

We will also continue to perform tracking and monitoring of political appointments in Federal Statutory Bodies (FSBs) and expand to include selected Government Linked Companies (GLCs) that will be made available on our Pantau Kuasa website.

“On this note, it is disappointing to already see the reappointment of Umno’s Ahmad Jazlan as FELCRA chair several days after the government’s commitment to stop political appointments into GLCs.

“Ultimately, restoring public confidence and trust towards institutions is the equal responsibility of both the government and the opposition.

“Both are key players in how reforms will unfold in Malaysia in the immediate future and we stress the importance of all to play this role,” concluded Dr Yeoh.