PM shies away from discussing 'political contract' with Nurul

Nurul

Malaysia Chronicle

As expected Prime Minister Najib Razak has kept mum on Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah’s invitation for an “open and honorable” discussion on election reforms and freedom of the media – two areas in which Malaysia is perceived to have regressed under his watch.

“That he is the PM is not an excuse. If he puts himself on such a pedestal, no wonder he is losing popularity. Nurul is a charismatic youth leader and if Najib is sincere about wanting to engage young Malaysia, he should begin with a public discussion with her and perhaps a few others,” PKR Youth leader Sim Tze Tsin told Malaysia Chronicle.

Don't question the "social contract"

Najib

Last week, the fast-rising daughter of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim had written an open letter to the PM after he warned her against “questioning the social contract” in reference to her widely-praised two-part article Malaysia or Malaysaja .

In Malaysia, the social contract refers to the political power-sharing agreement knocked out between the leaders of the main ethnic groups in the country as it received independence from British rule in 1957.

The terms of this deal are actually spelt out in black and white in the federal constitution. However, Najib and his Umno party have always imputed additional meaning to the clauses, which they say if challenged would erode the political dominance of the Malays.

According to Nurul, she had not questioned the social contract or the terms in the constitution. Instead, she had questioned, how it was that the term “special position” of the Malays as specified in the constitution had through years been transformed by Najib and Umno into meaning "special rights" or “supremacy” of the Malays.

Nevertheless, if the PM did not wish to speak about the "social contract" given its "sensitivity", Nurul offered to publicly discuss the "political contract" with him instead.

Tian Chua - start with Nurul

"If we cannot discuss the “social contract”, then can we instead discuss the “political contract”, that should be built on a free and fair election supported by a functioning fourth estate, a free media?" wrote Nurul.

"If people cannot have reliable information, exchange opinions or even have their dissenting voices heard through a free and independent media, and vote for their legitimate representatives at all three levels of government — local, state and federal — in a free and fair manner, then what kind of “political contract” have the people be handed with?"

Showy teleconference but no two-way discussion

Sim Tze Tsin

Unsurprisingly, the PM had no answers for her or the country. Even so, in conjunction with Hari Raya on Friday, he called on Malaysian students living abroad not to tarnish the country’s image and “explain that Malaysia is a modern and progressive Islamic nation”.

His comments were immediately slammed by the political opposition.

“We are all for patriotism but we hope he is not telling Malaysian students to lie. Firstly, he shouldn’t live in a glass house if he doesn’t want people to throw sticks. Secondly, what's the point of teleconferencing and making a big show of it in the newspapers when he doesn’t listen or do anything to make the aspirations of the youth come true. If he is serious, a good place for him to start is to take up Nurul’s invitation," PKR strategic director Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.