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The
topic of tonight's public forum, "Political
Openness and Democratic Accountability in Asia:
Nicety or Necessity?" invites an answer.
But before giving the expected politically correct
response, allow me to quote a famous 18th century
British statesman William Pitt on necessity. In
a 1787 speech to the House of Commons, he said,
"Necessity
is the plea of every infringement of human freedom.
It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed
of slaves."
In
that light, I should be wary to plead necessity.
However, I shall throw caution to the winds and
say that political openness and democratic accountability
is a necessity in Asia, as there are everywhere
in the world. I dare do so in the certainty that
no human freedoms will infringed, no tyrants defended
nor anyone enslaved.
Democracy
And Openness
Openness
creates wealth and prosperity. In Professor David
S Landes' book "The Wealth and Poverty of
Nations : Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor(Paperback
1999)", openness is attributed as one of
the key attributes of success--relative wealth.
This
openness takes two aspect. One, a willingness
to borrow whatever is useful from abroad whatever
the price in terms of injured elite pride or harm
to influential interests. Second, a willingness
to trust your own eyes and the results of your
own experiments, rather than relying primarily
on old books or the pronouncements of powerful
and established authorities.
Deng
Xiao Peng, the Father of Reform in China, would
definitely approve with his famous aphorism, "It
does not matter whether a cat is black or white,
as long as it catches mice". However the
late Deng would not agree with the need for freedoms
and democracy, which he sees as a threat to the
Communist Party's dominance.
Democracy
engender human freedoms, necessary for economic
progress. Freedom of thought and democracy is
the prime motivator of invention and industry,
whereas state-controlled societies remain static.
This has been amply demonstrated in the last century,
where the greatest inventions and paradigm-shifting
discoveries originated principally from countries
with some degree of freedom or social democratic
traditions.
More
importantly, democracy can prevent the gains from
economic progress from being completely whittled
away by corruption, cronyism or inefficiency and
allowing some benefits to filter down to ordinary
people. No one is therefore surprised when Transparency
International's Corruption Perception Index(CPI)
list of corrupt-free countries are democracies
such as Sweden, Denmark and New Zealand, whilst
the most corrupted lot are invariably dictatorships
and tyrants.
The
Twin Challenges Facing Asia In A Democratic Transition
In
the pursuit of life's happiness, Asians value
social order above all else. In a survey by the
American Embassy in one ASEAN nation, Asians placed
social order above individual rights as opposed
to Westerners who placed individual rights or
choice above social order.
Events
in Indonesia highlighting the painful and at times
bloody march to democracy, have placed democracy
in a negative light. The natural tendency is for
Asians to reject any ideas that causes social
disruption and disorder even at the expense of
genuine democracy.
Despite
the obvious benefits of freedom, openness and
democratic rule, the masses fall easy prey to
lies and threats of public disorder by the ruling
elite. The people's tolerance of government misrule
and misgovernance is so high that at times, the
dictatorship has to practically commit political
"harakiri", before a democratic system
can be ushered in.
This
is evidenced by the shocking and sudden resignation
of Indonesian ex-President Suharto in 1998. If
Suharto had decided to fight it out then regardless
of bloodshed, he may still have been the President
today.
The
only countries to have made the successful transition
from a full-fledged dictatorships to a full-fledged
democracy are Taiwan, South Korea and perhaps
Thailand. I do not wish to expand at length on
these countries though I have some experiences
having visited Thailand and Taiwan, especially
as an international election observer for the
opposition Democratic Progressive Party in witnessing
the momentous election of its candidate, Chen
Shui Bian as Taiwanese President. I will leave
this to my friend from Taiwan, Mr Wilson Tien.
What
I wish to address, are elected dictatorships,
ie dictatorship that cleverly masquerade as democracies.
Democracy can not be mere form, we must embrace
its full substance. Anything less is a perversion
of government of the people, for the people and
by the people. Democratic government may not be
perfect but it is the least malignant and least
oppressive form of government ever devised by
man.
Even
tyrants and putative dictators realise that they
are powerless to resist the tide of democracy.
So to vindicate their rule, these tyrants and
putative dictators apply cosmetic make-up, permitting
the form but not the content, showing the style
but not the substance of democracy.
In
elected dictatorships, regular elections are held,
where the results are pre-ordained; or where rigorous
candidate selection permit only those that support
the ruling elite to stand; or maintain a docile
and subservient press that purvey lies and fear
to intimidate the voters to support the ruling
elite. The ability to pull off this masquerade
of pretending to be democratic makes elected dictatorships
difficult to eliminate.
The
people do not realise that they are an oppressed
lot, ruled by an elected dictatorship where the
elected tyrant's every whim and fancy is law and
national assets are treated as a private preserve
to be dealt as deemed fit. If the elected dictatorship
finds that such subtle cunning or subterfuge does
not work, off goes the velvet golf to reveal fists
of steel. One of the most masterful practitioners
of an elected dictatorship is Malaysia.
Malaysia;
A Brief Political Update
Many
of Malaysia's problems are believed to stem from
the multi-ethnic nature of its population, largely
a legacy of British colonialism from the 18th
century to 1957, when independence was granted.
Of Malaysia's 22 million people in 1999, bumis(sons
of soil) accounted for 64%, Chinese 27% and Indians
8%, while the remaining 1% was made up of other
minor ethnic groups.
The
British colonial policy of "divide and rule"
was continued by the ruling Alliance and subsequently
National Front ruling party. Politics is naturally
mobilised around ethnic considerations, crippling
efforts to achieve national unity.
Despite
regular multi-party elections, the Malaysian state
has been generally authoritarian or semi democratic
according to neutral political economists such
as Harold Crouch, William Case, Edmund Terence
Gomez and Zakaria Hj Ahmad. Most of the minimal
conditions necessary for the practice of democracy
in the Shumpeterian sense, particularly fair elections,
adequate opportunities for independent political
opinion-making and political organisation and
minimal protection for the individual from arbitrary
state power, hardly exists in Malaysia.
In
other words, elections in Malaysia are seen as
so unfairly conducted and prejudiced against the
opposition, that they are a mere sham used to
endorse the rule of the dictator, albeit an elected
dictator.
Authoritarianism
In Earnest
Such
features of authoritarianism has become more pronounced
since Dr Mahathir Mohamed took over as Prime Minister
in 1981. There has been a steady encroachment
by the Executive on all the other branches of
government, the Judiciary and Parliament. The
Federal Constitution has been amended so many
times Parliament is just like another branch of
the Prime Minister's Department.
And
the Judiciary was brought into line, when the
Lord President Tun Salleh Abbas together with
two Supreme Court judges, was sacked in 1988 for
refusing to toe the Prime Minister's line. Ever
since, independence of the judiciary has become
a dirty word, suspicions about its integrity publicly
voiced, and no action taken against a 33 page
letter outlining corruption and malpractices amongst
the highest judges of the land, penned by a High
Court judge who was forced to resign.
Instead
of restoring public confidence in the judicial
system's capability to administer justice, a judge's
declared during a trial of an opposition MP that
no attacks on the judiciary will be tolerated.
Malaysians were cowed into silence with awards
for damages in defamation suits involving tens
of millions of ringgit, contempt action involving
imprisonment became common and opposition leaders
like myself convicted and jailed for sedition,
banned and stripped of all political and civil
rights.
Judges
who are eminent jurists seeking reform and truth
in the judiciary are hounded out of office. Even
proceedings in Malaysian courts is no longer sacrosanct.
Karpal Singh faces a 3 year jail sentence under
the Sedition Act for the defense of his client
in court, Malaysia's famous accused, ex-Deputy
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Which lawyer in
Malaysia dares to act as counsel for opposition
politicians now that they may well join their
client in prison?
The
circle of authoritarianism became complete when
the Executive was emasculated with powers concentrated
in the office of the Prime Minister, a virtual
dictator. Which Minister dares to disobey the
Prime Minister when he has absolute powers to
sack any Minister without giving any reasons whatsoever.
In fact, it is standard practice for certain Ministers
or Chief Ministers to give the Prime Minister
undated resignation letters.
The
centralisation of powers in the hands of one person
was achieved with the active acquiescence of the
fourth estate. The press has ceased to function.
There is not so much as no freedom of the press
as a freedom to lie on the government's behalf
coupled with a total news blackout of all unfavourable
news.
The
government-controlled mass and electronic media,
plays its role not just in promoting and legitimising
its master but also discredit the opposition and
dissent generally. For those who still refuse
to bow and scrape, imprisonment awaits them as
highlighted by the imprisonment of Far Eastern
Economic Review correspondent Murray Hiebert last
year.
We
have a joke in Malaysia that if you wish to know
what is actually happening in Malaysia, read the
Singapore newspapers. And probably vice-versa.
Economic
Corruption
Malaysia
is blessed with rich natural resources such as
tin, rubber, palm oil, pepper, tropical timber
and petroleum, and with a rapidly developing manufacturing
sector. Howevcr, Malaysia is equally blessed with
widespread corruption and inequitable distribution
of wealth.
The
government has refused to heed growing public
concerns of political patronage or cronyism, abuses
of power and open corruption. Estimates of losses
from such financial abuses range up to RM50 billion.
Malaysia's performance Transparency International's
Corruption Perception Index(CPI) has worsened
from 29th position in 1998 with a score of 5.3
to 32nd position in 1999 with a score of 5.1 which
is of similar ranking as Namibia.
Malaysians
are not surprised when:
1.
we had to depend on Australian Customs to expose
how wealthy our Chief Ministers are, when one
of them was arrested for failing to declare cash
amounting to RM2.5 million while entering Australia.
Not surprisingly, the RM2.5 million cash exceeded
his accumulated official income. Not only was
he not convicted of corruption, he was re-elected
as Vice-President of UMNO, the third highest post
in UMNO;
2.
a young 27 year son of a Minister without any
business experience and record can become a billionaire
overnight by purchasing listed companies valued
at RM1.2 billion;
3.
the Advisor of the Malaysian Central Bank whose
speculative forays in the currency markets resulted
in more than RM10 billion in losses 7 year ago
escaped unpunished. Recently he was rewarded with
the appointment as the Country's Economic Advisor.
One wonders how much more his advice is going
to cost us?
4.
The head of the Anti-Corruption Agency was forced
to resign for being effective. Instead of being
praised for catching a senior government civil
red-handed with unexplained RM100,000 cash in
a raid on the latter's office, he was forced to
close the case and retire after being lambasted
by the Prime Minister for conducting the raid
without the Prime Minister's permission. That
senior civil servant with a discovered talent
for "loose change" was then appointed
to head Malaysia's Central Bank; and
5.
the International Trade and Industry Minister
entrusted with giving preferential shares of listed
companies to the public, personally approved RM20
million shares to her own son-in-law. Instead
of being prosecuted for corruption, she was elected
to head the UMNO Wanita wing.
Such
concerns coalesced around former Deputy Prime
Minister Anwar Ibrahim after he was summarily
sacked by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed on
2 September 1998. Anwar's exposes of corruption
in high places, accumulation of extraordinary
and unaccounted wealth of top government leaders,
immunity from prosecution of crimes ranging from
sexual misconduct to murder has served to galvanise
a reformasi movement in Malaysia.
The
impact was greatest amongst the Malays, which
deserted UMNO and Dr Mahathir, in last year's
general elections. For the first time in UMNO's
history, UMNO received less than 50% of Malay
votes. UMNO and the ruling National Front coalition
was saved by non-Muslim votes, which usually voted
with the opposition, but this time switched to
the National Front after being totally intimidated
by a campaign of lies and fear of Islamic extremism
and public disorder.
The
shameful arms heist of heavy weaponry in army
camps in Grik followed by 2 vicious murders of
non-Muslim personnel by the Al-Mauunnah Islamic
extremists only served to validate the government's
campaign to frighten the non-Muslims. Curiously,
the government has refused to charge them for
murder, choosing to detain them without trial
under the Internal Security Act(ISA).
The
Asian economic crisis instead of forcing the Malaysian
economy to open up and undertake painful corporate
restructuring has resulted in crony capitalism
and political patronage becoming more entrenched.
There is no moral hazard. No corporate tycoon,
especially in companies like UEM, has been asked
to take a "haircut" or forced to leave
for their role during the financial crisis.
Instead,
the Malaysian government has regulated capital
controls especially fixing the exchange rate of
US1 To RM3.80. Such 'cocoon-like' economic policies
will only be effective if accompanied by a determined
effort to wipe out the ills and implement good
corporate governance, accountability and transparency.
Sadly such determination is lacking. Cocoon economies
can shelter a country from the depredations of
currency speculators but it can also cut one off
from competition, stimuli and opportunities of
growth- such is a nature of a cocoon.
These
underlying problems are related to the absence
of rule of law and democratic institutions. Rule
by law may work in the short term with an enlightened
or benevolent dictator. But he is still a dictator.
Tyrants and putative dictators embrace the same
credo and institutions that is oppressive and
opaque. Without democratic institutions and rule
of law, there are no safeguards and legal guarantees
for human rights.
An
Elected Dictatorship
In
1970, when Dr Mahathir was in the political wilderness
following his expulsion from UMNO by the late
Tunku Abdul Rahman, he attended a forum organised
by the Monash University Malaysian Students Union(MUMSU).
He bitterly attacked Tunku Abdul Rahman for betraying
the principles of democracy. He claimed that Tunku
does not believe in democracy only limited democracy.
Today
Dr Mahathir has gone a step further or rather
backward than Tunku Abdul Rahman. He does not
believe in a limited democracy, much less a full
democracy. His is an elected dictatorship.
At
a time when the world is moving inexorably towards
enlargement of democracy, Malaysia stands out
for its ever-increasing intolerance of democratic
and human rights norms. The most blatant abuses
such as the Internal Security Act(ISA), Official
Secrets Act(OSA), Sedition Act and University
and University Colleges Act(UUCA) are trumpeted
as necessities to maintain order and even save
democracy.
I
need not explain the infamous laws. But allow
me to touch on the curious impact of the UUCA.
University students are banned from involving
in politics, yet the non-university student of
the same age can do so. So young politicians comprise
mainly non-university students. Nothing against
those who do not go to universities, but do we
want our future leaders to be mainly non-university
ones?
Confident
with his manipulative powers and control of the
electoral process, Dr Mahathir rejects calls to
abolish such laws by claiming support for such
draconian laws from the people. He has publicly
reasoned that if the people felt that strongly
against such laws, they can always reject the
government and replace it with another that will
abolish such laws, which the people have never
done so.
The
Malaysian government uses a Malay proverb of "seperti
kera mendapat bunga(like a monkey obtaining a
flower) to explain why full democracy can not
be permitted in Malaysia. The monkey does not
know how to appreciate the flower and will destroy
it. Likening the people to monkey, democracy is
like a flower that will be destroyed by the people
unless there is a strong "guiding hand".
Dr
Mahathir asks for time to be given to educate
the people on democracy. After all, if Americans
took 100 years to develop a fully functioning
democracy, why can't we be given the same 100
years. Such intellectual dishonesty shines through
when Dr Mahathir exhorts Malaysians to achieve
Vision 2020 of becoming a developed nation.
He
wants Malaysians to achieve a developed nation
status in 2 generations what it took Americans
nearly 200 years to do. Therein lies the puzzling
question. If Malaysia can succeed in becoming
a developed country in 2 short generations, why
must we wait 200 years before becoming a full
democracy?
A
more insidious attempt by Dr Mahathir was to introduce
his own brand of Asian democracy or Asian values
as a counter to Western democracy or Western human
rights. Dr Mahathir claimed that Asian culture
and values precluded Western liberal democracy
due to Asian emphasis of loyalty to the community
over individual freedom, shuns adversarial relations
and favours order over conflict.
Such
arguments ignore the historical fact of suppression
of political rights during the post-colonial era.
But more dangerously, this process has also gradually
socialised Malaysian to accept and even appreciate
authoritarian rule, norms and institutions.
Dr
Mahathir Asian values concept also contains a
basic flaw in that there is no such thing as Asian
values. Asians are fragmented by race, culture
and religion. If there is any common thread, it
is the sharing of universal values of humanism
and religious norms that emphasises respect for
the individual and tolerance for diversity. As
the home of all the great religions of the world,
Asian values in all its diverse forms is compatible
with basic human rights and the liberating effects
of democracy.
However
by socialising Malaysians to accept the necessity
of authoritarianism, Dr Mahathir has conditioned
Malaysians to have no other alternative but to
continuously elect a dictator. Which democratic
leader in the world:
1.
can so flippantly dismiss the beating of Anwar
in prison black and blue until Anwar fainted as
being probably caused by Anwar himself. One wonders
how he got his medical degree from University
of Malaya in Singapore?
2.
can contradict himself by first publicly declaring
Anwar is innocent of homosexuality than charging
him for moral misconduct;
3.
allow police brutality where pregnant women are
shot dead without being given the chance to surrender;
and
4.
allowed an underaged rape victim allegedly involved
with a Minister to be detained for 3 years whilst
14 other men who admitted in court that they had
raped her were released scot-free.
What
Can We Do?
Despite
Thomas Jefferson's refrain that "Resistance
to tyrants is obedience to God", it is simpler
said than done, especially against one as resourceful
and determined as Dr Mahathir. Perhaps both Singapore
and Malaysia shares many commonalities and similarities,
whether in prosecution and persecution of dissidents,
in arbitrary detention without trial under preventive
laws and latterly even bankrupting of opponents
in court, a new development in Malaysia no doubt
acquired from masters of such devices.
If
I can parallel our political development with
a simple medical analogy. A man was ordered to
undergo a vasectomy for his own good. After discovering
that this make life pretty sterile, he was ordered
to undo it to put some fun back into life. As
any doctor will tell you, there is no guarantee
that you'll potent back again. Neither is it fun
- now that's Singapore.
For
Malaysia, it is a little bit drastic and is a
real-life situation. A Malay woman needed a blood
transfusion to save her life. Instead she contracted
AIDs from the tainted blood. She sued the Government
for millions of ringgit but was told off by a
Minister who said that she was not civic-minded
as such suits will drive up health costs. When
reminded that Malaysian courts have awarded much
more for defamation, the Minister replied that
this was different as defamation involved malice,
whereas in her case merely negligence.
Here
it seems that a man's reputation is worth more
than a woman's life. Malaysia is like this woman,
in dire straits yet must yield in importance to
the elected dictatorship. I am sure that we neither
desire an unwanted vasectomy nor a tainted blood
transfusion with AIDs.
But
I have faith that we can improve our nation for
the better if we continue to struggle and try.
There is an old Chinese proverb that says:
"If
you are thinking a year ahead, sow a seed. If
you are thinking ten years ahead, plant a tree.
If you are thinking one hundred years ahead, educate
the people."
In
this nano-second Internet age, we do not need
100 years. We will survive the legacy of these
tyrants, elected or otherwise. By continuing our
work to educate the people of democracy and their
rights, we shall prevail. Whilst we are impatient
for results, we must be patient with our resolve.
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