The point we are making

One bone of contention with the opposition in Malaysia is the absence of a Shadow Cabinet or Shadow government. Since Malaysia’s system is modelled after the British Westminster system, let us do a comparison between Malaysia and the UK to see where we have fallen short, in particular with regards to the Shadow Cabinet.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Malaysia has a population of 27 million.

There are 222 parliamentary constituencies in Malaysia.

Malaysia has 31 Ministers and 40 Deputy Prime Ministers.

(See the full list of Malaysian Ministers here: http://www.pmo.gov.my/?menu=cabinet&page=1797)

The UK has a population of 72 million.

There are 650 parliamentary constituencies in the UK.

The UK has 24 Ministers.

(See the full list of British Ministers here:http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/prod_dg/groups/dg_digitalassets/@dg/documents/digitalasset/dg_187701.htm)

There are 27 members in Britain’s Shadow Cabinet.

(See the full list of Shadow Ministers here:http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/pm/2010/10/that_shadow_cabinet_in_full.shtml)

In Malaysia, we do not have a Shadow Cabinet from Pakatan Rakyat like what is being practiced by the UK and most Commonwealth countries that also practice the Westminster system of government. The strange thing, though, is that after the 1999 general election, Barisan Alternatif did have a Shadow ‘government’ (not only a Shadow Cabinet but Cabinet committees as well). Now, Pakatan Rakyat somehow does not seem to see the need of continuing with this practice.

Why do we need a Shadow Cabinet or a Shadow government and what purpose will it serve? Well, maybe this extract from Wikipedia can explain it better:

The Shadow Cabinet (also called the Shadow Front Bench or Shadow Ministry) is a senior group of opposition spokespeople in the Westminster system of government who, together under the leadership of the Leader of the Opposition, form an alternative cabinet to the government's, whose members shadow or mark each individual member of the government.

Members of a shadow cabinet are often but not always appointed to a Cabinet post if and when their party gets into government. It is the Shadow Cabinet's responsibility to pass criticism on the current government and its respective legislation, as well as offering alternative policies.

In the United Kingdom and Canada the major opposition party and specifically its shadow cabinet is often called His or Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. The adjective "loyal" is used because, while the role of the opposition is to oppose Her Majesty's Government, it does not dispute the sovereign's right to the throne and therefore the legitimacy of the government. However in other countries that use the Westminster system (for example, New Zealand), the opposition is known simply as The Parliamentary Opposition instead of shadow.

Some parliamentary parties, notably the British Labour Party and the Australian Labour Party, elect all the members of their shadow cabinets in a partyroom ballot, with the Leader of the Opposition then allocating portfolios to the Shadow Ministers. In other parliamentary parties, the membership and composition of the Shadow Cabinet is generally determined solely by the Leader of the Opposition.

In most countries, a member of the shadow cabinet is referred to as a Shadow Minister. In Canada, however, the term Opposition Critics is more usual. (Wikipedia)