COMMENT | Focus on anti-corruption, parliamentary reforms

COMMENT | There have been a lot of political activities of late. It might be a very good time to re-examine where Pakatan Harapan went wrong (for example, its lack of parliamentary reforms) so that if indeed we are given a second chance, we should implement fundamental wide-ranging systemic reforms immediately.

First and foremost, is to fight corruption. The MACC, attorney-general and auditor-general to be appointed (with secure tenure) must be accountable to Parliament and not used as a partisan tool of the executive. 

Only by providing strong, independent anti-corruption agencies and bodies, can we really make a meaningful impact to stop the abuses of power and corruption in government.

Second is to revamp how Parliament conducts itself with an independent budget and operations, away from the grip of the executive. 

Creating a strong independent ministerial committee system in Parliament will help policy-making, check ministerial corruption and enable a diversity of views from MPs. 

In order to effectively carry out reforms, we also need the broad support of MPs, which brings us full circle to the fact that equal and fair treatment of all MPs must be given. 

Politics should not be a zero-sum game and Parliament rules and procedures should reflect and enhance bipartisanship for the betterment of the country, not the betterment of the executive and their cronies.

The third is to resolve economic inequality by re-examining and revitalising our economic base. We need to adapt quickly to face the localisation trend as an international exporter of goods. How do we transition into new and greener manufacturing? 

We must also implement policies to ensure the greater sharing of wealth with fair living wages and still keep improving creativity and productivity. These can be achieved if the executive is thinking for the nation and not only on benefits for their cronies.

I know the list of things that need fixing is endless and government work is never done.

But if we carry out the first two sets of reforms - anti-corruption reforms and parliamentary reforms - we can create a robust ecosystem that will continuously generate balanced and good policies from all MPs, for the best interest of the nation.

If we fail to do these two reforms, I am afraid corruption and abuses of power that have plagued and stunted Malaysia's progress and promise for decades will continue, just with new faces.

While politicians scramble for power, in the coming days, it is important to remember the purpose and reason for wanting that power. I hope that main purpose is to reform for a better Malaysia.

WONG CHEN is Subang MP. 

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