Time to build a new and lasting political order

 

From Liew Chin Tong

The 14th Malaysian Parliament will expire a year from now, on July 15, 2023. As the countdown begins, all political actors should move fast and use this one-year period to work on setting democratic rules.

These rules should stay regardless of who is in power.

We need to think “system” and not “personality”.

Ignore the repeated calls by the “Court Cluster” to have an early snap election.

We need to be clear about the end goal. We want to make sure that the nation doesn’t return to a one-party or one-man rule as was the case for the first 61 years of our nationhood.

At GE15, no party is likely to win enough seats to dominate Parliament. Not even Umno-Barisan Nasional.

Therefore, all parties should come together and work out fair rules to ensure a level playing field for all.

The anti-party hopping law is one of them but we must not stop there.

Restoring people’s trust in government and ensuring the stability of the nation depends on strong checks and balances, bipartisanship, and just laws, not fear and absolute power.

Malaysians defeated the old political order in 2018. It’s time to build a long-lasting new political order for the decades to come. - FMT

Liew Ching Tong is the Perling assemblyman and DAP deputy secretary-general.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.