Are we allowed to say anything at all?

Some say the fundamental human liberties originated from the Magna Carta 1215 and to some other the fundamental human liberties have been around us even before the year 1215. We are able to see this from the Charter of Madinah which was enacted during Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. time in the City of Madinah (let save the debate and continue with what I wanted to say here). To me the latter comes first and as a Believer of Islam, I hold the view that fundamental human liberties were revealed in the Holy Quran more than 1426 years ago.

One of the fundamental rights is the freedom of speech. Thus according to the right given to us we are allowed to voice out our concern to any matters. The Federal Constitution of Malaysia states, “…every citizen have the freedom to right of speech and expression…”

Thus the notion shall allow a person to voice out his ideas etc. etc. but when I read the news paper yesterday and today, I found out that two Member of Parliament from the Coalition Front (“Barisan Nasional” or “BN”) will face some kind of disciplinary action because the allegedly stood up and support the Opposition Leader when he proposed a motion to refer a cabinet minister to the privilege committee of the parliament.

I recalled the words said by the former Prime Minister in the one of the general election some years back. He says, “… we don’t need opposition in the parliament because our MP’s are able to “grill” the cabinets and ask questions…”

From the news reported and event which had happened, I believe that this is not the situation where the BN MP’s are allowed to question certain things done by the govenrment. Comparatively, we often see in the mass media that the cabinet members in the British Parliament have been “grilled” even by the member of their own party and the Prime Minister is not spared or excluded from being questioned. I like to see that happen in our parliament because each member of parliament are responsible to bring out the “problems” which normal citizen like me are facing or need to know and the cabinet shall answer the questions and be transparent in all matters especially matter which involved tax payers money and matters which would directly affect the citizen.

The last time that happens, one deputy minister was suspended from his post. Is this what democracy is all about? The MPs from BN have to say yes all the time and the executive awaits for people to say yes to all matters. I know the MPs which will be whipped are from the backbenchers and they have been supporting the government and its policies all the time but once in a while the government has to learn how to take criticism. We can’t say yes all the time to the executive. The MPs are supposed to represent the people not the executive. So, if they deviate once in a while, it basically mean that the executive needs to look into their own self once in a while and see whether the policies recommended are right, beneficial and protect the citizen interest.

So, I’d say that the act of punishing these MPs (if any or if there is some kind of punishment) if they deviate from the government point of view is not first of all democratic and it is a perversion of the fundamental right enshrined in the Federal Constitution. This need to stop because the act of questioning the cabinet will provide in a way or another “check and balance” mechanism in the branches of the government which comprises of the parliament, the executive (cabinets) and the courts. If the member of parliament are not allowed to voice out their opinion, therefore the mechanism of “check and balance” will be inoperative and subsequently make our executives no better than those in the 3rd world countries or some communist or socialist country. So, where is freedom? No wonder William Wallace and clan showed their “arse” to the King’s army.