Anytime now to reform (Original unedited manuscript)

Last year on November 24th, new Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim took office, and his cabinet was formed on December 3rd. Yes, the new ‘unity’ government is still not yet 2 months old, already there are groups and individuals making requests for meetings, sending memorandums and issuing public statements for the new government to take action on the causes they advocate.

Some supporters for the ruling parties are quick to defend the latter, asking the enthusiastic public to be patient, “give the new government more time” they plead. The reasons given often are that the government is a large coalition of parties with diverse ideology and their own set of election manifestos; they never formally work together before; it is a ‘fragile’ government with many political tensions and break-up points; UMNO party election and 6 state elections are upcoming. So, the supporters urge: “let’s not hurry the new government or demand too much, let them focus and carry on with their work, show what they can do for the Rakyat’

How much time should be given for the new government to take action and fulfill their election promises?

For ministers and policymakers, there are different levels of technical difficulty in making policy changes. The lowest hanging fruits are for the ministry to pledge their commitment, set and publish any policy or action plan, though these are not legally binding. Ministers do have power to gazette any changes to the existing regulations or guidelines under certain law, or issue any circular order to enforce certain regulations differently. Hence, if the concerned policy is within the executive power of the minister to change, then it is up to the minister.

However, if a problem requires the minister to propose amendments to the existing law or a completely new law, then it may need to get past the cabinet decision, Attorney General’s advice and bill drafting. The government has to table the bill to the parliament. Ordinary bills require merely a simple majority in both Houses of Parliament to pass. This already places the burden on the ministry to persuade the peers first in the cabinet, and later rally in the Parliament to get the support for the bill. This kind of legislation change may not come fast, but efforts have to be seen.

The barrier is higher if the problem requires amendments to the Federal Constitution, then a two-third majority in both Houses of Parliament is necessary. Even if the government did not have two-third majority, for example, Ismail Sabri’s and Mahathir’s (under Pakatan Harapan), both governments managed to pass the anti-hopping and Undi18 legislations which involved changes to the Federal Constitution, respectively. They could have done so with cross partisan support, though this may not happen often.

People’s usual concern is also about the law implementation and enforcement. They often judge by the final outcome – they want to see the effect on the ground and the changes in reality.

Some problems are complex such as tackling poverty or lowering incidents of non-communicable diseases, they may not be solved just by a single piece of legislation or adjusting regulations. Some problems may involve a public institution or sometimes more than one. Thus, these need institutional reform, or changes to a number of key laws. So, it would take some time to see through the legal changes, and an even longer timeline to observe the effect these reforms bring.

In fact, politics is more than just the procedural technicality of passing and enforcing laws. Even if the minister is convinced by certain policies, he or she may also like to consult internally with the civil servants and relevant agencies, as well as hear out from the subject-matter experts, affected parties and civil society organisations.

In the end, the minister has to show political will to make the necessary changes, do the right thing for public interest and common good, despite the challenges posted by certain vested interests. People-centric politicians have to show no fear or favour in their resolve, no matter how powerful the lobbies are and the repercussions the latter threaten to bring. They should not be afraid to change the bad laws and policies. If they backtrack from what they used to advocate, then this would leave people with the impression that some politicians are unprincipled, merely politicking to speak against when in opposition but do nothing when in power.

Some are eager for this new unity government to work out, but the politicians just need the right strategies and political wisdom to start working on the election promises, not to say that they have to deliver the outcome immediately. The politicians do not need further excuses and people should stop providing them such, especially about ‘bad political timing’.

Anytime now is a good time to start fulfilling the election promises, the earlier the better, just don’t leave it until too late. Pakatan Harapan’s previous 22 months of governance is a good reminder that political reality could change fast and wait for no one.