Should the HR minister stand down?

There have been numerous calls for our embattled human resources minister to resign.

The calls came after three of his aides were arrested to “help” the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigate alleged corruption in his ministry.

Politicians from one side of the divide demanded his immediate and unconditional resignation. While the other side argued back about why they did not ask their own colleagues to resign when faced with similar allegations and questioning by the MACC.

For us ordinary citizens, this is all just “nonsense talk” by politicians.

Even our erudite, and usually savvy prime minister found himself in the unenviable position of having to offer an explanation. Anwar Ibrahim said that his minister did not have to resign because he was still being investigated, and not charged.

The prime minister added that if he himself was asked to explain something to the authorities, he could not be expected to immediately step down. Anwar said that we must know the difference between being investigated and being charged.

Under “ordinary” circumstances, I would fully agree with our prime minister. Anyone holding any position of power and authority will always be subject to accusations, especially by their detractors.

Even outside politics, companies cannot indiscriminately sack an employee because someone accused them of a misdemeanour. If you fire a staff member without due cause or without first taking actions like conducting a domestic inquiry, you will find yourself in the Industrial Court.

These are extraordinary times, though. Our prime minister says that we must know the difference between being “investigated” and being “charged”, but his deputy has been charged, yet he was appointed to the post.

Of course, the argument would be that the DPM’s situation is very different. He had to be appointed, notwithstanding his charges, because without him, there would be no unity government. And, the alternative is the “big-bad-green-wave”.

As I get older and less idealistic, I have come to expect that politicians will spin their justifications in any way that suits their immediate needs. And, there will always be sycophants who will cheer them on.

So, the question is, should the human resource minister step down or go on “garden-leave” right now?

Technically, I do not believe he needs to do either, until and unless the MACC charges him, then he must resign immediately.

Stepping down now may be misconstrued, for political gain as an admission of guilt by opponents of this unity government, even if there was no wrongdoing on his part.

Should our prime minister make such statements on the difference between being investigated and being charged? Of course not, especially when his own deputy has already been charged and that too, quite comprehensively.

But I understand the prime minister’s dilemma. He cannot fire a minister without just cause. And as “team captain” he needs to stand by his teammates.

It then becomes incumbent on the minister in question to act wisely and help his “captain,” especially with the precarious nature of this unity government, and with the six state polls just around the corner.

Surely the minister knows that his situation will be fodder for the opponents of the government? On social media they are already thrashing him and the unity government for this.

It would have been so refreshing, if the minister had said to his boss that he will “take one for the team”.

Perhaps the minister should have announced that while he is not guilty of any wrongdoing, for optics and good governance, he was willing to go on “garden leave” until the MACC absolves him.

And if the prime minister was serious about combatting the tidal wave of corruption that has landed on Malaysia’s shores, as he regularly declares in his eloquent speeches, he would have readily accepted.

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This course of action would have been masterful.

If he stood aside in the interim, and returned if he was cleared, the minister would have been held up as an exemplar. And his political party, DAP, would have come out of this episode smelling of roses.

The prime minister need not have been drawn into this imbroglio and need not have made senseless statements.

But politicians will always be self-serving. They never seem to do the right thing and stand down of their own volition. Unless they get caught red-handed with their “pants-down” on tape.

The citizenry can never really count on politicians acting with integrity but instead, we need to assume that they will do only what is expedient for themselves. Holding plum and cushy jobs in ministries seems to stop them from being honourable and stepping aside when the public perception is not right.

Regardless of their impassioned claims to “work for a better, more progressive Malaysia,” politicians are really in it for the trappings of power.

In Malaysia, politicians with integrity are a very rare breed. And if you find one, they probably will not last long in this “dog-eat-dog” world of politics. - FMT

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