LETTER | Return people's mandate to rightful election winners

LETTER | Political instability is a hot topic in Malaysia due to the recent events that took place since late February this year. Many are commenting about democracy. Let's find out what democracy means to us.

Democracy is the belief in freedom and equality between people, or a system of government based on this belief, in which power is either held by elected representatives or directly by the people themselves. The keywords are "government of elected representatives". It means chosen by people through an election.

So, democracy is about you and me. Elected representatives are the voices of the common people. In other words, the power is given to the people and it is the right of every citizen to be part of the decision-making process of our country equally. 

The government was chosen to fulfil the aspirations and the needs of the people. The policies and national agendas should be coming from the people and implemented by the government and not vice-versa. The government should let go of the mindset that "I implement, you follow".

However, Malaysia is a unique country where we practice parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarchy. The government is bounded by the Constitution and the Parliament. The Yang di-Pertuan Agong is the Head of the State. 

As we know, our king and rulers are part of decision-makers rather than being ceremonial figures. We have seen the role played by our king in appointing the new prime minister and eventually ended the political crisis recently. For this, we have to salute the King for his wisdom in solving the issue.

However, many are voicing out against the manner of which the new government was established. A large number of elected representatives switching their alliance from one party to another party which caused the previous government to lose their power. It means, the people's decision changed by force by small numbers of elected representatives.

Democracy has been hijacked. This is unfair. The decision to change the government should be given to the people and should not be determined by party-hopping elected representatives. This is actually undermining people's rights. If we can change the government as we wish, then democracy is being crushed and the Constitution is being undermined.

Political integrity is needed to be the voices of the people in Parliament. The people chose us based on the party and its principles rather than the individual. If we switch our loyalty from the party that gave us the opportunity to represent the people, we are actually betraying the trust of the people. We must remember, the elected representatives won the election because the majority of people chosen us. It is the majority vs minority in terms of votes.

In this case, the people's mandate should be returned to the rightful winners of the election. The elected representatives who switched their alliance and loyalty for whatever reasons should be reprimanded by the people. Yes, by yourself because we are chosen by you to represent you.

This is what it means by being part of the decision-making process, the real democracy. Question the decision taken by the elected representatives if it is against the decision of the majority. The moment you are being silent, you have given the elected representatives an excuse for them to do the wrong things.

Democracy is not about casting your votes once in five years but take part in the process for the next five years. The end result should be given by the people after the five years period through an election. The decision we make in elections will determine the future of the country which will affect the future generations of our beloved country.

So, the fate of the country lies in the hands of every Malaysian. Use it wisely. Do not let the “hijackers” take away the democracy from you.

However, before we go for the next election, let all of us voice out the need to have an anti-hopping law in order to avoid political instability in the future. Introducing this law should be made a priority as we don't want the results of the election to be changed abruptly in the near future. This will uphold political integrity too.

You cannot avoid introducing this law now unless the government has a plan to undermine democracy and this is possible only if the majority of the people demand it. This is called taking part in a democratic process to secure your rights. Let us all be united to make a change. Introduce the anti-hopping law or forget about the elections!

The writer is the Selangor DAP vice-chairman.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.