QUESTION TIME | Anwar Ibrahim’s unprecedented level of victory in Port Dickson indicates one thing - the vast majority of people, over 70 percent cutting across all races, who voted in Port Dickson are in favour of him becoming an MP and succeeding Dr Mahathir Mohamad as prime minister.

One suspects that this may reflect the entire country which is just as well because it indicates that the broad populace believes that Anwar should return to be becoming an MP and eventually taking his place as the next prime minister of Malaysia. If they did not believe in these two steps, PD would not have voted so overwhelmingly for Anwar.

In this case, the majority decision also tallies with what is morally and ethically correct. The Harapan coalition went to the polls with the clear and unambiguous agreement that Mahathir will be the interim prime minister until Anwar obtained a full and unconditional pardon from the king.

That was obtained five months ago, and if he is to succeed Mahathir and become PM 19 months from now, it is time to become an MP - the first and necessary step. He has already been sworn in as an MP, and he can start by playing a major role as a backbencher.

He has expressed his interest in doing that together with DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang. One hopes they can play a stellar role to keep the government on its toes considering that the BN is still to regroup and mount any kind of representation of its numbers in Parliament after the crushing election defeat.

It is refreshing to note Anwar’s promise to push ahead with pressing reforms which have stalled somewhat, reforms which don’t need a whole lot of money to be implemented. At the heart of these reforms is the repeal of a slew of oppressive laws introduced by former PM Najib Razak and historically by a number of previous PMs which includes Mahathir.

It is the repeal of laws such as the Official Secrets Act, the Sedition Act, the Printing Presses and Publications Act, provisions to prosecute under criminal defamation as well as private personal behaviour, to mention but a few, that can ensure the space for transparency, good governance and accountability.

On top of that, it would be necessary to introduce other legislation such as a Freedom of Information Act and give more protection to those who blow the whistle on government misdeeds. These will free up the space for discussion, debate and discourse on the entire range of government operations.

It would also mean that no government in future can pull the wool over the collective public eye, enabling a constant watch on government behaviour. It would also mean that if there are problems in governments, substantial powers now in the hands of the prime minister will no longer be available to stop their investigation.

Mahathir has been rather lackadaisical about pushing the reforms for a better society forward. Anwar, a victim who has suffered considerably under the executive arm - first Mahathir and then Najib - using the enforcement agencies and a compliant judiciary to unfairly incarcerate him for 11 long years, is likely to be much more pro-reform than Mahathir.

If these reforms don’t take place, the laws in the statute books can be used by those who are inclined to rule effectively by dictatorship and steal billions via patronage and kleptocracy to return to power sometime in future.

For the culture of honesty and integrity to be forever ingrained in the psyche of the Malaysian, who has been used to decades of corruption and unethical behaviour, the laws have to be changed to enable uncovering of dishonesty first, followed by scrupulous, uncompromising but fair enforcement and judgement.

Thrown out

For Anwar, the PD win is the first step forward after his pardon and release. No doubt the next step after entering Parliament is to enter government and take his rightful place as deputy prime minister. His wife Dr Wan Azizah Ismail will likely resign not just from government but from active politics as she has said she would.

Assuming the DPM’s position is the next logical step in the sequence because it is vital that he becomes part of the government and understands all the reasons for decisions taken even if he may not be in complete agreement.

The next step, of course, is that he becomes prime minister in accordance with the agreement that was made by all the coalition partners in Pakatan Harapan and announced to the electorate. After all, Anwar, not Mahathir, is the designated de facto leader of Harapan, although Mahathir is chairperson, an acknowledgement of Anwar’s role as the reformasi leader for the last 20 years.

There are those who for various reasons, many of which were personal and not based on Anwar’s record after he was thrown out of Umno, wanted to see him thwarted from becoming prime minister but that was not the will of at least the people at Port Dickson who heartily endorsed him.

That also is a reflection of the increasing maturity and wisdom of the Malaysian electorate (that’s you and me and collectively most everybody else registered to vote) who first threw a kleptocratic government decisively out of power. And then just as decisively indicated that they want the single person most responsible for that overthrow to become the next prime minister.

As long as we keep that collective maturity and wisdom, we need fear no government.

P GUNASEGARAM says change starts with those who want change. He is the author of the book ‘1MDB The Scandal that Brought Down a Government’. Email: t.p.guna@gmail.com 

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