THE #KerajaanGagal (failed government) remains the stark reality in Malaysia since the pandemic, and this has sparked numerous reactions from Malaysians, prompting the hashtag to go viral on social media.
Malaysians are by far a blessed bunch. The country may be plagued by illegal immigrants, inundated by refugees and overrun by foreign workers but there are no civil wars nor natural disasters.
What we do have is a pandemic which the Government probably does not quite understand, an economy battered like never before by repeated lockdowns and other allegedly ineffective measures, and indebtedness which sees no light at the end of the tunnel.
One important campaign is #KibarkanBenderaPutih (hoist white flag), which brings badly-needed food parcels under #KitaJagaKita (we look after our own) to the needy.
There probably isn’t a similar campaign anywhere else in the world except in India. In India, food parcels from neighbours, the community and meals at temples have been the norm for thousands of years. It forms part of the traditional social safety net.
Meanwhile, #KibarkanBenderaHitam (hoist black flag) wants Prime Minister Mahiaddin Yassin gone yesterday.
The Agong, who can act under Article 39 – Executive authority of the Federation – against #KerajaanGagal keeps a discreet silence, remaining above the fray but probably not for too long as the rakyat’s cries for help remains unheeded by and large.
It’s a recipe for disaster if both leader and followers are ineffective. That’s tantamount to squatting on the people for no rhyme or reason.
It’s either or – we cannot have both effective leader and effective followers.
Leadership remains all about effectiveness for vision, mission, objectives, goals and activities (vimoga) in line with the vision.
It’s easier to change an ineffective leader than replace ineffective followers. But let’s not focus on the ineffective leader.
The jury may still be out on whether Agong would act on #KibarkanBenderaHitam and replace the ineffective leader.
If the ineffective leader does not want to blame the ineffective followers, he must blame himself and make way for an effective leader. Don’t put the Agong in a spot. There must be some dignity.
One principle in leadership and management calls for empowering subordinates and delegating authority by administration.
In doing so, the responsibility for the actions of subordinates still remains with the leader or manager. Spanish Flu, for example, isn’t Spanish Fly. The first probably brought death, the latter may be nothing more than water, sugar, and empty promises.
If authority comes from above, power comes from below.
The leader or manager serves the subordinates or the people, and in return, obtains the mandate of power from them over them, the collective.
In Malaysia, it cannot be denied that we have always had dictatorial PMs as long as we can remember. There is no proof that the Cabinet system follows the consensus principle i.e. not even one voice against. The Cabinet System isn’t about majority decisions.
If the Cabinet does not abide by the consensus principle, it proves that the Ministers are ineffective followers, certainly beholden to the Prime Minister and virtually living in fear for themselves.
The Umno Supreme Council declared recently that it was withdrawing support for the PM only. That is proof enough that the Cabinet system does not abide by the consensus principle.
The Umno Supreme Council ignores the fact that its nine Full Ministers in the Perikatan Nasional (PN) Plus government have been as ineffective as the PM.
The party did not ensure the Cabinet System abided by the consensus principle. If push comes to shove, the party can replace its ineffective Ministers.
We can also question the make-up of the National Recovery Council (NRC) where the ineffective Cabinet dominates.
The Government has so far seen things quite differently. It never consulted the subject matter experts in aviation and the hospitality industry, for example.
Instead, the politicians pontificate sanctimoniously in public on this and that including on Mahiaddin’s National Recovery Council (NRC). They are unaware that ignorance remains bliss, a little knowledge can be dangerous.
The NRC, it cannot be denied, remains old wine in new wine skins. It was formerly a Cabinet Committee on the pandemic and economic recovery.
The NRC may have pre-empted the Agong who could have replaced the Cabinet with the National Recovery Council as a body of subject matter experts and include representation from all parties with seats in Parliament.
The Agong, at the risk of sounding like a musical record stuck in the groove, can still replace the Cabinet with a New NRC and new PM as its Chairman. – July 26, 2021
Joe Fernandez is a longtime Borneo watcher and a regular FocusM contributor.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
