I HAVE never believed in politics because human behaviour is the same.
Give anyone absolute power and even the noblest of men will be tested.
That’s why I always believe in setting the system right.
Although I’m not so naive as to believe that a perfect system exists, we should ensure a good system with checks and balances.
Dewan Negara was supposed to be Dewan Rakyat’s checks and balances, but it isn’t. So, how could we change this?
The solution is simple, yet difficult to implement, since those in power may not agree to relinquish their freedom of authority.
Anyway, let’s give it a try. If a ruling party can lose its power after 61 years, anything is possible.
Firstly, Dewan Negara should be empowered to reject bills rather than just delay their pass age.
Secondly, senators should be neutral persons, preferably intellectuals from professional groups, with no allegiance to a party to allow them to have a more neutral view when reviewing legislation.
Having a Dewan Negara filled with ruling party members will create only a house of yes-men for Dewan Rakyat. On the other hand, if Dewan Negara is populated by a majority of opposition party members, any legislation passed by Dewan Rakyat may be objected for the sake of opposing.
However, for senators to be independent candidates, we cannot depend on state assemblies to elect their senators as they would elect their party members to be in Dewan Negara.
Neither can we rely on the list of nominations provided by the prime minister to be neutral as well.
As a solution, we could either empower the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and Council of Rulers to appoint independent candidates to be senators, or conduct a direct election for senators allowing only independent candidates to stand for this election.
However, it has been known that most professionals are not keen to be involved in politics or to go through the hassle of the electoral process.
If we want the best intellectuals to be in Dewan Negara, we would have to appoint them.
So, here’s another recommendation: the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and Council of Rulers should be empowered to appoint independent candidates to be senators.
Senators representing states would be appointed by their sultans or the Yang di-Pertua Negeri, while federally-appointed senators would continue to be appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
With all these recommendations in place, I believe that Dewan Negara can operate in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution, which is to act as checks and balances for Dewan Rakyat and represent the interests of the states.
IVAN OH
Kuala Lumpur