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Friday, September 12, 2014

The delicate issue of citizenship and royalty

Central to the current Pakatan Rakyat-Sultan crisis is the issue of citizenship and the exercise of power in a democracy.
By Wong Mun Loong
democracy300The present Selangor impasse has captured the public’s imagination in Malaysia. While there has been a lot of negativity and name-calling, it has also put the issues of democracy, transparency and accountability on our radar.
Many have argued that the Sultan is obliged to follow the will of the people and act in accordance with the advice tendered by the Executive Council or of “a member thereof acting under the general authority of the Exco”.
Clearly, the Sultan is placed in a most unenviable position. Yet he must mediate and negotiate a settlement in this conundrum, requiring him to exercise both his skills and intellect.
First, it brings into focus the role of the royal family, their rights, duties, obligations and the power they wield. Secondly, the Sultan is aware that the decision(s) he makes will have both historical and legal precedent and needless to say, implications on the evolution of political developments in Malaysia. Thirdly, the Sultan is forced into a position where the locus of political power has to be clearly demarcated, defined and enacted.
These issues will arguably influence not only the scope of the monarchy but also political events and processes in Malaysia.
Like many Malaysians, I am fascinated and at the same time worried by this impasse. As a democrat, I firmly believe in the sovereignty of the people but am mindful of the political reality of living in a constitutional monarchy, I also know that there could invariably be complications.
Subjects and Citizens
Malaysian nationals continue to be subjects of the monarch. This is a station, a position of subordination rather than of equality, despite the proclamations of our constitution.
Moreover, by default and by design, the monarchy sustains a hierarchical type of society which many would argue is inimical to a fully fledged and more horizontal style of citizenship.
Even so, our governments have defined Malaysian citizenship in a basic legal sense, and that there may be a conflict of values is also apparent, as evidenced in the evolution of Malaysian political history and folklore.
Central to the current Pakatan Rakyat-Sultan crisis is the issue of citizenship and the exercise of power in a democracy.
Historically, Malaya was ruled by Sultans and their representatives. In our quest for independence, we inherited the ‘western’ concept of citizenship and political system. Our leaders, consciously or not, set themselves three main tasks: to build a sense of national cohesion; to create a stable political system and to infuse a sense of political morality.
Citizenship as such, was not just a label but one which sought to enact and confer an identity on its adherents. Loyalty, responsibility, equality, fairness and respect for social, political and legal procedural values defined citizens and citizenship.
This idea of citizenship was fundamentally different and radical in its purpose. In seeking to efface equality, it assumes a horizontal form of relationship where tolerance, freedom, respect for truth, respect for reasoning and fairness dominates. And yet, there remains a fog of uncertainty regarding its direction. The idea of the constitutional monarchy remains.
Loyalty and Citizenship
Therein lies our contradictions – the issues of loyalty vis-à-vis citizenship.
Loyalty is a sentiment, an emotional attachment to an institution, a group or a person. Loyalty is derived from a belief in the values which the object of loyalty stands for. One can, of course, be loyal in many contexts which do not involve citizenship, and these can be problematic. McCarthy and his witch-hunts in the USA is one example, where loyalty was seriously misused and abused by powerful interests. Al-Qaeda and IS are other examples of (misplaced) loyalty, and history is replete with many other such examples.
In Malaysia, loyalty is often seen as loyalty to the King and to the nation, and yet, as our history has attested to, they may not necessarily be one and the same (I am not being seditious, simply pointing out history as it has unfolded).
In pre-independent Malaysia and especially precolonial Malaya, people were emphatically subjects, not citizens. They possessed ‘no rights either of person or of property’. Citizenship as an idea simply did not exist.
Historically, within the Malay community, there were elements which sought to recast the arguments of loyalty e.g. Abdullah Abdul Kadir (better known as Munshi Abdullah), the Kaum Melayu Muda in the early part of the 20th century, ASAS 50 and numerous other individuals (Ahmad Boestamam, Ishak Haji Muhamad Hasnul Hadi, Kamaluddin Muhammad, Dr.Burhanuddin, amongst others).
Indeed, there is a distinction between citizenship and subjecthood. The former implies rights and duties, whilst the latter privileged duties, obligations and loyalty. Modern democratic citizenship ushered in a new mode of governance, one of a depersonalised state authority.
Authority was compelled to legitimate itself in the presence of public opinion and reason. This new political vocabulary sought to affirm itself through representation and representatives, and now rears its head as we embark on a journey yet to be determined.
The Sultan would be right to take his time and ponder these issues. He cannot and must not be rushed, for his decision has consequences beyond Selangor. He has real power and notwithstanding the lawyers and their advice, legal issues can only be resolved by the courts. Whether the Sultan will take this route remains open.
For those of us out there, we need to remain optimistic. Democracy is a difficult road and not predetermined, and as citizens, we can only seek answers and clarity on our roles, rights and duties.
Wong MUN LOONG is an FMT reader

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