The monarchy is damaging to those caught up in it, it is unaccountable and it acts as a drag on our democratic process. This is a broken institution that long ago abdicated all responsibility for power but continues to take what it can from the taxpayer.
The monarchy is a 'broke' institution. Constitutionally it has abdicated all responsibility. For most of the time the monarchy is both powerless and pointless.
There is a cosy arrangement in place which allows the government of the day to exercise the monarchy's power in return for political support for the monarchy. Officials use euphemisms to hide the true nature of this deal - they say the monarchy acts "on the advice of the prime minister", meaning monarchy does what is told. We hear debate about the "royal prerogatives", which can be more accurately described as "prime ministerial powers". They talk about the monarchy owning land, palaces and priceless art "in trust for the nation", which simply means we pay for them and they keep them.
Politically the monarch serves little purpose. There are some powers they can and have used, but on these occasions we are reminded why the monarchy is unacceptable in a modern democracy. The monarchy can, for example, play a role in choosing our prime minister. It's a job an elected UMNO president and if we had a hung parliament, but an unelected, unaccountable monarch has no right to interfere in our political process.
It's not just the institution that is dysfunctional. In it we have a family of fairly ordinary, uninspiring individuals who represent the very worst of Malaysian snobbish, elitist and utterly out of touch with the rest of the country. The monarchy just keep on taking from the taxpayer and give very little back.
Despite doing little and achieving even less, they demand respect and deference from everyone.
Desperate to defend their privilege the monarchs employ a huge public relation team who work around the clock to promote the royal brand. Unable to point to any meaningful purpose the monarchs claim simply to "work hard", despite the evidence. They repeatedly remind us of what they do for charity, although what they do is of questionable value and could be done without the royal titles and the hundreds of servants.
It's not all their fault though. Let us spare a sympathetic thought for the monarch's family. They are dysfunctional and eccentric because of the bizarre institution into which they have been born.
The monarchy is as damaging to Malaysia as it is to our democracy.
It is an institution that has abdicated political responsibility long ago and which harms those who are caught up in it. It is also bad for our democracy and bad for our pockets. The monarchy costs over 100 times as much as the Malaysian presidency, Yet this institution which spends so much of our money is exempt from Freedom of Information laws. It does not have to hand its accounts to the National Audit Office for proper scrutiny and it continually blurs the line between what is public and what is private property, allowing them to shift costs onto the taxpayer while retaining tight control over access and accountability.
There is one final reason why the monarchy doesn't work for Malaysia. With over 90% of the population believing our political system does not work, our politics is crying out for reform.
Yet reform in this country moves at a snail's pace because the monarchy gets in the way. Firstly, the monarchy gives the government enormous and unlimited power. This makes the government extremely cautious about moving too far down the reformist road, in case that power comes under full scrutiny and is threatened by genuine democratic change.
Secondly, the monarchy's supporters cry foul when too much change is proposed, demanding that while it is permissible to make some modifications to our political system, we must not jeopardise the their position, independence or authority. The deference and sycophancy shown by many toward the royals places the most important and fundamental reforms outside of the political debate.
The monarchy is broken. It serves no purpose and it gets in the way of a genuine, refreshing and full-throated debate on the way we do politics in this country. It is time it went.
mi1
19/04/09
The monarchy is a 'broke' institution. Constitutionally it has abdicated all responsibility. For most of the time the monarchy is both powerless and pointless.
There is a cosy arrangement in place which allows the government of the day to exercise the monarchy's power in return for political support for the monarchy. Officials use euphemisms to hide the true nature of this deal - they say the monarchy acts "on the advice of the prime minister", meaning monarchy does what is told. We hear debate about the "royal prerogatives", which can be more accurately described as "prime ministerial powers". They talk about the monarchy owning land, palaces and priceless art "in trust for the nation", which simply means we pay for them and they keep them.
Politically the monarch serves little purpose. There are some powers they can and have used, but on these occasions we are reminded why the monarchy is unacceptable in a modern democracy. The monarchy can, for example, play a role in choosing our prime minister. It's a job an elected UMNO president and if we had a hung parliament, but an unelected, unaccountable monarch has no right to interfere in our political process.
It's not just the institution that is dysfunctional. In it we have a family of fairly ordinary, uninspiring individuals who represent the very worst of Malaysian snobbish, elitist and utterly out of touch with the rest of the country. The monarchy just keep on taking from the taxpayer and give very little back.
Despite doing little and achieving even less, they demand respect and deference from everyone.
Desperate to defend their privilege the monarchs employ a huge public relation team who work around the clock to promote the royal brand. Unable to point to any meaningful purpose the monarchs claim simply to "work hard", despite the evidence. They repeatedly remind us of what they do for charity, although what they do is of questionable value and could be done without the royal titles and the hundreds of servants.
It's not all their fault though. Let us spare a sympathetic thought for the monarch's family. They are dysfunctional and eccentric because of the bizarre institution into which they have been born.
The monarchy is as damaging to Malaysia as it is to our democracy.
It is an institution that has abdicated political responsibility long ago and which harms those who are caught up in it. It is also bad for our democracy and bad for our pockets. The monarchy costs over 100 times as much as the Malaysian presidency, Yet this institution which spends so much of our money is exempt from Freedom of Information laws. It does not have to hand its accounts to the National Audit Office for proper scrutiny and it continually blurs the line between what is public and what is private property, allowing them to shift costs onto the taxpayer while retaining tight control over access and accountability.
There is one final reason why the monarchy doesn't work for Malaysia. With over 90% of the population believing our political system does not work, our politics is crying out for reform.
Yet reform in this country moves at a snail's pace because the monarchy gets in the way. Firstly, the monarchy gives the government enormous and unlimited power. This makes the government extremely cautious about moving too far down the reformist road, in case that power comes under full scrutiny and is threatened by genuine democratic change.
Secondly, the monarchy's supporters cry foul when too much change is proposed, demanding that while it is permissible to make some modifications to our political system, we must not jeopardise the their position, independence or authority. The deference and sycophancy shown by many toward the royals places the most important and fundamental reforms outside of the political debate.
The monarchy is broken. It serves no purpose and it gets in the way of a genuine, refreshing and full-throated debate on the way we do politics in this country. It is time it went.
mi1
19/04/09
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