High Drama in the Perak Constitutional Crisis

I agree that most analysts are right in that had elections been called, then this situation would have been averted.  Even if Pakatan had lost at the elections, they would have not attempted to cling to power as much as they did because they would have legitimately lost power through mandate. However, the actions of the Barisan Nasional camp seem to indicate that they did not want to force an election, perhaps in expectation that they would have lost the election and would have no chance of getting back into power. After all, the three independent candidates have lost their reputations for defecting.

As pointed out by a friend, Pakatan could have attempted to escalate the May 7th by resorting to even more drastic measures by locking the doors and chaining Sivakumar to the table, thus prolonging session until a compromise with Barisan can be sought,  signalling to the public the illegitimacy of the proceedings, and inducing the Sultanate to hold fresh elections. However,  I am is unsure what actions Barisan could take to prevent that.

On the other hand, this episode in Malaysian politics shows how the odds are already stacked against the opposition. While the institution of the Sultanate is supposed to be “apolitical”, their actions or nonaction as prescribed by the constitution have effects on the distribution of political power. Had the sultan indeed listened to the Nizar, Pakatan would not have though the Barisan government to be illegitimate; what strings were pulled in the meeting between Najib and the Sultan is anybody’s guess.

In addition to that, the police, state judiciary, state bureaucracy and electoral commission have been exposed to have been partial to the Barisan government. The police should not have forcibly ejected Sivakumar, the judicial decision to lift Zambry’s suspension was not clearly legitimate, the state secretary took intiattive over political office, and the electoral commission refused to hold by-elections despite letters of resignation of two independents.

Why then the breach of constitutionality by the institutions of the state? Perhaps, conservative elements within the institutions of the state consent to extra-constitutional measures because they place heavier priority on order and certainty over due procedure. After all, due procedure had already failed them for the past few months and it was necessary to find an answer — an answer that was not the Pakatan because they clearly did not have majority.

The probably result of this is that it could clearly alienate the popular vote. Whether or not one sympathizes Barisan or Pakatan, many people have complained that the May 7th  fiasco is an embarrassment to the nation. It is likely that people will accept whatever government is in power, as long as their is some sort of stability and order in the state.

I don’t find it embarrassing that people were fighting “like little kids” in the State Assembly, granted the amount of power that is at stake and the emotional investment, were willing to take extraordinary measures to preserve what they think is right.

However, I do find embarrassing that as a whole nation Malaysia hasn’t had stronger institutionalised channels in which constitutional impasses can be worked out, that Malaysia does not have the leaders that can bridge the divide, and that Barisan nor Pakatan are able to compromise. Representational democracy exists not solely in the vote, but in the negotiation and compromise between two parties before executing a decision. The legitimation of government, lies in convincing the opposition of its loss.

We will have to look forward to the court ruling on Monday. Regardless, a strategy for Pakatan would be to find an alternative way to induce the election commission to hold early elections. Granted the difficulty of calling elections even with some measure of power, it is not a likely strategy. The worse case scenario is a wave of anti-government protests like Thailand, where both the PPP and PAD thought the current government was installed through ilegitimate and undemocratic means. The ball is now in their court. Malaysians wait.