Term Limits Derail Power Trips Of Old Men

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“I’m tired of being crushed by the weight of men that believe in nothing, I have to change that.”
- Jackson Teller (Sons of Anarchy)
You have to understand one thing. Politicians despise their voters.
Do not for one moment believe that politicians want to “nation build”, or “be of service”, or any other buzzwords that politicians and political operatives use to gaslight the public.
The job of a politician is to get power and hold on to it for as long as possible.
When you have to depend on votes, you have to do and say the dumbest things to retain those votes. And believe me, after a while, politicians begin to despise the hoi polloi whom they need to retain power.
There are exceptions, of course. A political party like PSM or, over the years, various independent candidates, have demonstrated that they want to serve and reform the system.
But they lost because, unlike the average political hack, they tell people what they need to hear and not what they want to hear.
And yes, old politicians have experience. Stay in various positions long enough, you understand how to game the system. You begin to understand the connective tissue between the various ruling classes of the country and how they depend on the bureaucracy to sustain their pecuniary agendas.
You understand that it is not about serving the rakyat but rather various special interests. You bring your family into the business of politics, and this creates various ecosystems of nepotism and political manoeuvrings which last for decades.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, 77, and his daughter, 44-year-old Nurul Izzah - a former MP and newly elected PKR deputy presidentThis is not about age. This is not about limiting old people. This is about curtailing the abuse of power in a democratic system of governance.
This is what term limits achieve, and this is why politicians and their factotums hate the idea of a shelf life.
Anyone at any age who is of sound mind and physical capability should be allowed to run for political office, but there should be strict limits on how long they can stay.
This is about a system which privileges old men and women, not because of their wisdom or experience, but because of the various ecosystems they nurture, a culture of corruption, incompetence, and theocratic authority.
This is why the system is based on the repression of young people, either through state interventions in how they experience education, or how they worship god.
It is worse for the majority who are brainwashed by state and federal institutions, and through various propaganda organs, into believing that their ethnicity and religion are under siege.
Youths just waiting their turn
And it is much more insidious than old people with decrepit ideas remaining in power. These ideas infect the younger generation of politicians who are patiently biding their time for a spot on the gravy train.
They spend their working hours hoping these old people who have been in “service” for so long will allow a younger person to get a taste.
In 2017, Syahredzan Johan, one of the more interesting young political operatives in play, responding to a spate of surveys describing the apathy of young people when it comes to voting, wrote:
“These young politicians must be able to understand the aspirations and concerns of the youth of Malaysia, beyond the sloganeering and rhetoric.
“They must not merely echo the words of their more senior leaders. They must be able to know what the young people of Malaysia want and need.”
Bangi MP Syahredzan JohanThis is why, under various propagandistic tools like Asian values or whatever morality that religions peddle, the idea that young people are ignorant and have to be subservient to values that supposedly served an earlier generation, while ignoring context, is drummed into the minds of young people.
This is why you see young politicians in positions of power kowtowing to older politicians because: (1) They want to get to that position of power and influence, and (2) They understand that these old politicians could potentially be around for decades.
Now, if there were term limits, the system would be in a constant state of flux.
When people know that their time is always running out, they understand that what they do will be open to scrutiny and accountability by the next person who comes in.
Indeed, their conduct while in office or as an MP could be weaponised for various reasons, and this is a good thing because if their conduct was above reproach, they would have nothing to fear.
Dangerous comfort of stability
People like to talk about stability and consistency, but what they do not seem to understand, or maybe they do all too well, is that systems of corruption and nepotism thrive on stability and consistency.
Here’s the thing, if MPs do not have a term limit, and they are bad for the country, they will still get voted in by people who do not care, or care only because the politicians tell them what they want to hear, even though it is bad for the country.
So, term limits are not a panacea but rather a democratic hurdle that makes it harder for old ideas to endure.
Did I say political operatives do not want to change the paradigm? What I mean is, they do not want to change the paradigm unless it suits their purposes.
Sometimes the agenda of political operatives aligns with the rakyat, but most times, especially in Malaysia, we have been programmed to accept their agenda as something pragmatic because sacred cows are in reality beasts meant to frighten the rakyat from speaking truth to power.
PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang is in his late 70s and has been leader of the Islamist party since 2002This is why term limits for elected office are never considered by the people who want to remain in power forever. This is not about age in the sense that old people should be constrained in their political careers, but rather how old people want to stay in power merely to sustain a kakistocracy.
Fadiah Nadwa Fikri, who earned the ire of the state for various reasons, said it best: “Any attempt to break the fortress built around this existing system in order to democratise the space for people to assert their political existence is often met with harsh criticism and rebuke.
“As a result, the power to shape the future and direction of the country remains in the hands of the privileged few, thus further alienating the voices of the many, in particular the marginalised.
“Genuine democracy, which seeks to place people at its heart, therefore remains out of reach.”
Take Madani City. Only a politician who has been in the system for decades and who knows how things work could come up with something like this. - Mkini
S THAYAPARAN is commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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