How do we choose our MPs?

 

From Charles CJ Chow

If you are looking to hire a chief executive officer for your business, you would be very discerning who you employ. Hiring the wrong person would be disastrous.

You will look very closely at the person’s qualifications, his experience, his track record and his health to decide whether he or she is suitable for the job. You will do a background check to see if he has any criminal record or if he is or has been a bankrupt and also check on the authenticity of his qualifications. Some people have been known to bluff about their qualifications. At the job interview, you will screen for whether he has been successful in his career and whether he has the mettle to lead your company. You will weigh his or her qualifications and character with the job requirements, to see whether he or she fits.

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If we exercise this degree of care to employ a CEO, why don’t we do the same for our MP? There are thousands of CEOs and only 222 members of the Dewan Rakyat and 70 members of the Dewan Negara. And arguably, the MP’s responsibility is more important than that of the CEO. The CEO looks after the company while the MP looks after the whole country.

If we are really concerned about having quality MPs, then we should apply stricter criteria than those of choosing a CEO. You will notice that every Tom, Dick and Harry wants to run as an MP. I am sure we have noticed the lack of quality in our past MPs. We are all also aware of the motives of some candidates who want to be MPs. Fame and glory? Money and position? Recently, we read that a carpet seller wants to run for Parliament to escape “selective persecution”! It is time that Malaysians deserve better. We should demand a more stringent screening of our MP candidates.

Before we discuss the qualifications and character that we expect of our MP candidates, let us first look at the major job requirements of an MP:

• Making laws: Parliament is the legislative arm of our government in charge of law-making. Enacting legislation is a primary function of MPs.
• Approving the national budget: to ensure the responsible expenditure of our nation’s wealth and the development of our country.
• Scrutiny of the Cabinet: Under Article 43(3) of our Federal Constitution, “the Cabinet shall be collectively responsible to Parliament”. This function of scrutiny is often neglected. Parliament can do this effectively through parliamentary select committees to hold ministries and other government agencies accountable.
• Advising the Agong: Under Article 40(1) of the Federal Constitution, the Agong “shall act in accordance with the advice of the Cabinet…”. Although the Cabinet is part of the executive, its members are made up of MPs. And as mentioned, the Cabinet reports to Parliament.
• Managing the country: the Cabinet (made up of MPs) and Parliament are responsible to manage and run the administration of the country.

It is not difficult to see that for such onerous responsibilities, we need MPs of sterling quality. Now, let’s look at the qualifications and character needed for the job requirements of an MP.

Qualifications: A good university degree is essential. Although I believe that intelligence is not necessarily measured by a degree, the knowledge and intellectual training that a university education bestows on a person should not be understated. It would certainly help in better understanding of law-making and scrutiny of government business. In the private sector, most CEOs would be required to have at least a degree. For our MPs, we should also look at where he or she obtained the degree from. We are all painfully aware of the deficiencies of our education system and the existence of many degree mills churning out “kangkong” qualifications. Having a good degree, authentically-obtained, would allow an MP to understand that “air suam” (warm water) does not cure Covid-19 and there aren’t 500 countries in the world.

Experience and track record: Larry the cat may be well-loved and good at catching mice, but is he qualified to be the UK prime minister? We should place particular importance on the track record of the candidate. We should not look at what a candidate promises to do but what he has done – his track record. What has the candidate achieved in his or her career? Was he a performer or a failure? Some candidates ask us to vote for them because their fathers were important people. They flaunt their pedigree to boost their insufficiencies. But pedigree does not reflect capability unless you are choosing a sheep dog to tend to your herd of sheep. Hence, beware of candidates riding on the coat-tails of their fathers. Their fawning sycophants should instead look at the intrinsic capabilities of the candidate.

Financial record: The candidate’s financial record is important. Was he or she bankrupt? Was bankruptcy because of his failure to run his business well? If a candidate cannot run his business or his own personal finances well, how can we expect him to help run the country? Would you hire a CEO who has a record of continued business failures?

Health: While age is not necessarily a barrier to good candidacy, health should be an important factor of qualification. An MP serves for a maximum of 5 years and his responsibilities are immense. If we expect our MP to work hard in discharging his duty properly, it is not prudent to elect an MP who has got one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel. And by-elections are expensive affairs.

Red-herrings: Lastly, we should be aware of red-herrings – these are the public relations images created by candidates to persuade us to vote for them. In politics, perception is often different from reality. In the silly season of elections, so many things are spun. Do not be swayed by these. For example, just because a candidate is good at shouting and making noise about almost everything, it does not mean he or she will be a good MP. Likewise, beware of those who seemingly fight for certain causes to create the perception that they care about people; this is often just for the elections. Similarly, those who espouse grand ideals and mouth motherhood statements – these are so easy to promise and are staid political pabulum. I would not hire a CEO who keeps shouting promises of what he can do when his track-record tells a different story. More so, an MP.

In GE15, let us be more discerning who we choose as our MPs. Our lives depend on it. - FMT

Charles CJ Chow is an FMT reader.

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