RESTORING BALANCE TO THE THREE BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT

Dato’ Chua Jui Meng’s Press Statement 11th April 2008

Much is being said about judicial reform in the press these days, with the latest being a speech by the Regent of Perak Raja Nazrin, calling for a judicial renaissance. I strongly support his call, and hope that our leaders will heed his words.

In his speech as reported by the Sun on 10th April 2008, Raja Nazrin spoke of the need for the three branches of government – legislative, executive and judiciary, to be highly responsive and accountable to the people. This is a topic I would like to delve into deeper and broaden a little further.

Malaysia was founded on the governing constitutional principle of the three branches of government, each invested with specific functions to provide the necessary check and balances necessary for good governance. However, over time the executive branch has through constitutional amendments assumed more powers than is healthy for our democracy.

I believe that realignment must be made in all three branches to restore the balance as enshrined by our Constitution.

For the judiciary the Federal Constitution must be amended to re-vest in them the judicial authority of the Federation. Furthermore for the sanctity of the judiciary, it is vital that every person and institution be treated equally before the law. Specifically, no political party should be immune from the process of the law and the courts. The exclusion of jurisdiction of the courts over political parties provided in the Societies Act Section 18C can protect abuses committed by top leaders of these parties.

For example when the Bukit Mertajam division of MCA brought a case against the MCA leadership for abuse of power by injection of large numbers of phantom members into the division to the High Court, it was dismissed on the grounds that the court had no jurisdiction over political parties. Section 18C of the Societies Act takes away the checks and balances that protected the rights of members through the judiciary.

We need to amend the Societies Act to restore jurisdiction to the courts over legal matters pertaining to political parties. Members must be shielded from sacking because they bring complaints of injustice pertaining to their party to the courts for adjudication.

Furthermore, our unique two-court system – the Syariah and Civil Courts, need to have their separate jurisdictions clarified to prevent a repeat of the Lina Joy incident, which caused much discomfort amongst the non-Muslim population.

Next, Parliament itself must be revitalised. But more than that, I believe that the primacy of Parliament must be restored with the executive branch accountable to it. No government institution or government linked company should be exempt from the purview of Parliament. Amendments should be made to all Acts that exclude these organisations from parliamentary review.

I also fully support the provision of a live telecast of all Parliamentary sittings. This proposed with the hope that an awakened Parliament will produce parliamentarians who will actively engage in the debates regarding the policies and direction of our nation. The presence of large numbers of Pakatan Rakyat members this term will certainly lead to more vibrant debates in both Houses of Parliament. However, I pray that we will be able to emulate the British Parliament upon whose principles we were founded, that encourages even parliamentarians from the party of government to question and bring the government to account.

And finally, I hope the executive branch - the Cabinet, will listen to the voices for change and allow itself to lead the reform to redistribute the powers back to the other two branches thereby securing the freedom and rights of all Malaysians for time to come.

I commend Datuk Zaid Ibrahim for his prompt response to Raja Nazrin’s call. I hope that we can be assured that the Cabinet will move expeditiously in implementing what was promised.

Dato’ Chua Jui Meng