Elections, Mandate, Dewan Undangan Negeri And The Civil Service Role

This Editorial in May 2001 dwelt on the subject “Legislative Process, Practice, Procedures and the Role of the Civil Service”. The State Legislative Assembly or better known as Dewan Undangan Negeri was prorogued on 3 September 2001 paving the way for the 8th State Elections. In this Editorial we dwell on a related subject “Election, Mandates, Dewan Undangan Negeri and the Civil Service Role”, principally to highlight on the relationship that has always existed between politicians, the legislators and the administrators. If in the past, such relationship is explained within the context of advisory and supportive role, today it is often described through the term smart partnership. Such relationship would not have been easily achieved if each party is not able to understand the depth, width and breadth of each other’s role. Another reason to focus on this topic is to acknowledge the fact that the State Cabinet system vis-à-vis the Exco system used by the States in Peninsular Malaysia is uniquely different within our federal set-up. This in turn explains the raison d’etre for the different administrative and institutional set up of the State, apart from its different history and socio-cultural milieu.

Sarawakians have participated in the electoral process and have exercised their electoral rights since the formation of Malaysia in 1963. Elections provide a venue for political parties and the government (the party having the majority vote) to seek mandates – new and fresh mandates – to test and find out if their performance has been accepted or otherwise, and simultaneously to politically sell their new plans for the future to the rakyat via the Party Manifesto. The Manifesto provides voters with the agenda of action for the coming years, and obviously will and can influence decisions made by voters.

In countries practising parliamentary democracy, the bureaucracy is often tasked to conduct the elections. To facilitate and ensure the smooth operation of the democratic process requires an independent machinery i.e. a government machinery in the form of Suruhanjaya Pilihanraya Malaysia (Election Commission) to carry out its tasks with the support and the full retinue from the State Secretary’s Office right up to the Divisional, District and Sub-District levels, the Military, Police and many others. In other countries, they will have their own machinery such as COMELEC in the Philippines, Komisi Pemilihan Umum (KPU) in Indonesia, Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) and Federal Election Commission (FEC) in the United States.

The editorial this month takes a look at this very core of the democratic process which affects us all and gauges how we, members of the Civil Service, can always relate our roles in upholding not just the smooth execution of this process, but also in upholding the continued reverence and sanctity of this democratic process. As a starting point and from a historical perspective, Sarawak has to date gone through eight General Elections, which together have provided the basis and invaluable experiences to enable us to be where we are today. We have also experienced the generally smooth and efficient administration of the elections, and today we are able to conduct such a gargantuan task within a day, which is no mean achievement as we have seen that election results take weeks or months to be finalized in other countries. It would not be out of context to go through the process thereafter. It starts with the nomination day when political parties put up their candidates followed by the campaign period and the polling day itself. Immediately after the results are known and the winning party has been officially announced, the new government has to be formed which goes through the process of appointment and swearing-in of the new Cabinet made up of the full Ministers and Assistant Ministers from the various component parties (where coalition government is practised). Within the context of our Federal system of government, the Sarawak model together with Sabah practises the Cabinet style where we have full Ministers overseeing subjects that are listed under or defined as State subjects in the Federal Constitution. As many other subjects will impact on the State, it also becomes necessary to hold a watching brief on these subjects for which the State can articulate its needs. Hence, the respective State Ministries will have to be fully abreast with the currency of issues that emerge from time to time. And of course, there are the con112001 and residual subjects which need to be carefully attended to. Of significance, however, is the fact that development has always featured and focused prominently in the formation of the State Cabinet. For the DUN to hold its session immediately after the General Election, the newly elected representatives (YBs) will have to be sworn in as members of the Legislative Assembly. Thereafter and with the DUN in session, the normal legislative process, practice and procedures ensue. The Civil Service at the same time will play their part.

We now look back at some theoretical underpinning about the elections. Elections are held in any democratic country within a fixed time frame. Hague, R et al (Comparative Government and Politics) defined an election as “a competition for office based on a formal expression of preferences by a population. These opinions are then combined into a collective decision about which candidates have won”. When elections are held, voting is the main instrument in which ordinary citizens (the rakyat who make up the voters) can have a say in how they are governed and to determine their future, and thus determining public policy. But of course, different countries have different ways of holding their election. More often, the value of each voter equals one vote. A vote can still be affected and determined by gerrymandering, where electoral boundaries can be determined through a process of redefining electoral boundaries. Australia is known for its proportional representation system while others like Malaysia follows first – past-the-post or known as the ‘simple majority’ system. The latter system is effective and especially make good sense where and when the number of electors are small and the issues are non-complicated. Where the number of voters increase and issues get complex, theorists argue and look for alternative approaches such as preferential voting or proportional representation. In some countries like Indonesia, they merely vote for their preferred parties and thereafter members are chosen. In the final analysis, the system that works best for a country is one in which there is broad acceptance in terms of its popularity and workability.

Let us first look at some of the reasons and rationales explaining for the need to call for election from other perspectives. From a political science perspective, there are various reasons why elections are held. Some elections are localized in nature such as those involving local councils which merely involve election of their Councillors and when held, may not involve the whole government machinery. However, elections with broad mass participation are held for larger reasons involving the formation of government. Such form of election is a rather new phenomenon originating with the introduction of democratic government. In other cases, particularly in autocratic states, elections have tended to be held to build support as well as to select their leaders and policies. Whichever is the purpose, the election process is always a time for renewal and change. From the point of view of public sector economics, the process involves public choice, where voters provide inputs through the democratic process of holding election which generates output resulting in public policy. Public choice theory is a micro economic model of the political decision-making process.

The legislative process in most liberal democratic countries, including those of the Westminister, Washminister mutation or its other variants can also be portrayed from a metaphorical perspective. Metaphorically speaking, we can discuss legislative skills to comprise four elements namely, the mechanics or mechanism for which we need to know the process, procedures and ways of doing things, the architecture in terms of the structural division between the executive and legislative branches, the anthropology which recognizes the distinct ‘tribes’ with their own culture, values and taboos, and the drama which characterizes the key players, characters, the sequence of events and the spectacle that can go with it. Seen and understood from this metaphorical perspective, it is quite clear that possession of legislative skills is critical to enable one to weave through the executive and legislative process. For civil servants who closely service the legislative branch, it is all the more necessary to understand the game, the agenda, the variables and parameters, the issues and of course, the communication channels and skills.

We shall next focus on the role of the civil servants and other public officials in facilitating, administering, co-ordinating and ensuring the smooth conduct of the elections. Ensuring good administration, a peaceful and stable environment, within a climate of a generally robust and growing economy has been the nature or quality of ‘public good’ or product that the civil servants and public officials have contributed. We recognize the roles of the Suruhanjaya Pilihanraya Malaysia, the State Administrative Service where officials from the Resident and District Offices and Local Councils as well as the various State and Federal Departments and Agencies have played their roles as Returning Officers, Assistant Returning Officers, Presiding Officers and Polling Clerks. In the former case, the Election Commission has, in the past, dealt with a daunting task for improving the conduct and process of the election from a few weeks or days to only one(1) day. This is a commendable feat considering that the state of infrastructure and communication in Sarawak is still not yet fully developed. But it does show the supreme effort that has been put to enable us to realize that democracy is not only thriving and alive in Sarawak, but that it can further help us to have confidence in our administrative machinery. In the later cases of the Residents and District Offices, we are mindful that with the 9 Divisions (soon to become 11), 28 Districts and 31 sub-districts and 20 local authorities or local councils, have together provided the backbone of our administrative machinery. On this basis, we already have a very strong pool of administrators to deal with the election in a fairly, speedily and expeditious manner This speaks volume of the capability and capacity of these officers in delivering public goods and services despite their other specified duties and functions.

Looking beyond, it is the peace and stability of the State and country that we need to be equally mindful of. Among the other leading groups of public servants that have played their contribution in delivering this ‘public good’ let us also not forget the Police, the Military, other paramilitary and security units. Additionally, we should also look at the rakyat or citizens’ role as well. The rakyat constitutes every citizen of the country – but can be distinguished between voters (those with eligible age) and non-voters (those who are still not eligible). However, it must be said that everyone plays a role – a very important one – to ensure that peace and stability is maintained. Even though compulsory voting has not been introduced in the country, nonetheless those who are eligible to vote must exercise their right of voting and not just to be fence-sitters. For the Civil Service, let us continue to provide the machinery to ensure the smooth conduct of the democratic process.