Has Malaysia Ever Seen Ministers Resign When They Lose Support

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 Lately, politics has been quite boring to follow or comment on. It’s not like nothing is happening, everything is just operational. I guess this isn’t a bad thing because if there isn’t much attention given to politics, then it means all is going smoothly, and well, operational.
Of course, it could also mean that they cover up well or have good public relations skills. But let’s assume the best for the moment.
When the PKR election results came out recently, it caught everyone’s attention because some bigwigs were contesting against each other, with the biggest wigs being Nurul Izzah Anwar and Rafizi Ramli.
Coming into the election, Rafizi was the incumbent of the second-highest post in the party - deputy president. He was also the economy minister.
ADSNurul Izzah, on the other hand, had lost in the last general election. She held no government post and was a vice-president in the party. She is also the daughter of the party president, Anwar Ibrahim.
As we all know, the two bigwigs duked it out, and Rafizi (above, left) lost his position, and Nurul Izzah seems to have come out of her political cold storage and is in the limelight again.
Another bigwig who lost is Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, who was vice-president in the party and also the natural resources and environmental sustainability minister.
He had earlier lost his position as Setiawangsa division chief to comedian and film director Afdlin Shauki. Nik Nazmi (above, right) appealed the outcome, but the results were upheld.
Newly elected PKR deputy president Nurul Izzah AnwarHistory in the making
Both Rafizi and Nik Nazmi tendered their resignations as ministers. This is something Malaysians are not used to - cabinet ministers resigning when they no longer garner the support.
They cited that they were appointed as ministers based on their previous positions in the party. It was only right that they resign, seeing that they no longer held those positions after the party election.
This is history in the making because although there have been ministers who lost their place in cabinet because of losing their party positions, none of them had ever resigned willingly and instead, were dropped by the prime minister during cabinet reshuffles.
One can assume that they still wanted to hold on to their ministerial posts but just couldn’t and were told to leave.
The fact that we have politicians who are willing to do what Rafizi and Nik Nazmi did is progressive in Malaysian politics. This is in line with how, after the 2018 general election, when Pakatan Harapan won the government, the country can now see the possibility of the people choosing and changing the administration that they wanted to govern their country.
It shows that there can no longer be an authoritarian administration that will try to hold on to power as long as they can, even when they don’t have the support of the majority of the people anymore.
Of course, seeing that 2018 was only seven years ago, we are still in our infancy as far as progressiveness in our politics is concerned, but at least we are heading in the right direction.
ADSHowever, it is a little bit disappointing to see progressive politicians like Rafizi and Nik Nazmi go. These two are scandal-free and are performing ministers, more so Nik Nazmi, who has been doing a good job with his portfolio.
Rafizi, although a bit muted during his time as minister, is someone we all know as being brave and vocal when it comes to criticising his party if they stray from their main objective of reform.
On the other hand, many observers say that this is the best opportunity for these two, more so Rafizi, to better solidify his position as a top politician and national leader.
Being out of the cabinet and also the party leadership structure means that they can become good and strong backbenchers, which could win them more support among the grassroots to make an even stronger comeback.
Wait and see
This is similar to Nurul Izzah, who is now under pressure to perform. After she lost in the last general election, she quietly rebuilt her standing and is now back in the political limelight. Of course, there is criticism of cronyism and family lineage, so how she (and her father) handles this and performs is going to be key in silencing these critics.
This is something we will have to wait and see, and with the current progressiveness in politics, I am not too worried because it means that we have a society that is aware and realises that the people have a voice and voting power.
If more politicians are like Rafizi and Nik Nazmi, it also means we have politicians who are willing to relinquish power when they lose and not try to hang on with wrinkled claws.
Again, we are still far from being a perfect democracy with a perfect political system, but we are heading in the right direction. Do we ever want to go back to a time prior to 2018, when there was never a change in government? I do not think so. I want to be confident and secure knowing that people can always determine their government.
With that said, it means that our society and people must not rest on our laurels and be lulled into a sense of blissful comfort. We must always be vigilant and observant of our elected leaders and bring into power those who have integrity, ethics and responsibility.
No matter how progressive and improved we become, we must try to maintain it and make it better. - Mkini
ZAN AZLEE is a writer, documentary filmmaker, journalist and academic. Visit fatbidin.com to view his work.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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