Sothi vs. Bung & Aziz

Warning letter for duo who broke ranks

KUALA LUMPUR: The two Barisan Nasional MPs who broke ranks by supporting an opposition motion got away with a stern warning.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz said Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin (BN – Kinabatangan) and Datuk Mohamed Aziz (BN – Sri Gading) would be issued with warning letters by the Barisan whip for supporting Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang.

The two had supported his motion to refer International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz and her secretary-general Datuk Mohd Sidek Hassan to the Parliamentary Privileges Committee for giving MPs letters on approved permits without following parliamentary procedure.

Nazri said the two only breached party discipline.

“We have to discipline party members. The party whip will issue stern warning letters to them so that they will not repeat their actions,” he told reporters at Parliament lobby.

Since they had expressed regret and had apologised, issuing them warning letters would be sufficient, he added.

He added that Cabinet sought the Attorney-General Chamber's view on the status of the MPs and was advised that there was no need to discuss the matter during the Cabinet meeting, as they were not administrative members.

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The Malaysian government system is derived from the British system courtesy of the occupation. Similar to Australia, in a parliamentary system, party discipline is considered highly important for the government to function – otherwise, we would have a House full of individual opinions and then they cannot arrive at any decision. If there are certain stands not popular with either Opposition nor Government, the Rakyat can elect Independents to represent them. Therefore, if we elect a BN MP, we have to expect them to vote along BN lines. Dissent is not allowed in open parliament sessions but MPs are free to voice their opinions and debate in closed-door BN-only sessions.

The US system is not completely free-voting as well. They keep party members in check by way of a rewards and punishment system meted out by the party whip. Party discipline in US is a lot less than in UK, Australian and Malaysian House but their elected representatives are kept in check by a system of rewards – e.g. funds to the constituent, election to sub-committees which are very powerful. If you are not a party-line follower, you will almost never get selected into these sub-committees which oversee almost everything and decide on budgets, policies, etc. Dissenters can also expect themselves kicked out of these subcommittees.

We must also understand that partisan discipline is a lot more important to a Prime Minister as his powers are different from that of a President, who has, in general greater executive powers. A PM needs party support a lot more because the ruling party elects the PM whereas in US the President is elected by an electoral college system. You can therefore have a president from a minority party – if I’m not mistaken Bush had to contend with a Democrat-controlled Congress in his 1st term.