THE memorandum of understanding inked between Pakatan Harapan (PH) and the government on Monday was a historic first.

In a less politically worn-out Malaysia, it would have been celebrated as a potential herald for an era of mature bipartisanship.

Still, both sides seem to have learnt their lesson. Political offers made from a position of relative strength comes across as more sincere.

Taking what you can, when you can, is better than giving everything up for the sake of bigger agendas.

Perhaps more important, what’s good for Malaysia should take precedence over what each party wants. 

With the focus now away from politicking, MPs and leaders must now keep their eye on reform and the economy; with PH acting as a pressure group. For its own sake, Perikatan Nasional (PN) should deliver on its promises.

Politically, this is the smart thing to do. First, to keep the political temperature low and not invite antagonism from the opposition.

Second, to remain occupied with deliverable goals. Part of the problem with the last government was that lack of deliverable, tangible results.

It is perhaps this lack of focus that also gave room for jostling and the need to solidify power for individuals and individual parties’ alike, in the absence of something more concrete.

Goals include economic improvement, institutional reform and improved handling of the Covid-19 situation.  

The fruits of such co-operation are already being seen. In PH-held Selangor, Operation Surge Capacity saw the vaccination rate reach more than 80% for adults, with another 10% expected by the end of the month.

Considering the large geographical area and dispersed population, putting it on par with the much smaller and densely populated KL, was by no means, a small feat.

Treating both areas as one despite the political administrative division, makes sense due to the heavy interaction for work, education and entertainment between the two. Now, Penang is following suit. 

Although much of what is offered by PN is common decency, it should be implemented anyway. It should be looked at in the larger context of Malaysian politics – where bipartisanship has been largely limited to small gestures of goodwill between personalities, especially younger politicians. 

A framework such as this offers the opportunity to normalise power-sharing, removing the perceived need for a stable ruling coalition with a strong dominant partner, the political model that has shaped Malaysian politics since Barisan Nasional in 1970. 

This does not only apply to PN, but to PH and any other emergent coalition. For Malaysian politics to further develop, we need to move beyond ‘Big Brother’ politics.

If the recent leadership crisis showed us anything, it is that while we have many warlords and intellectuals in politics, we don’t seem to have second-liners capable, or visible enough to replace our current crop of leaders.

Seniority needs to be tempered with youth, and merit should replace loyalty for us to progress forward.

The proposed emphasis on parliamentary select committees and its new equal structure allows for more meaningful checks and balances, and more exposure to parliamentarians in those committees on the technical intricacies of certain ministries, preparing them for a potential eventual role in such positions in the future, and balancing out the expectation with the ministers. 

Similarly, equal allocation achieves this: opposition MPs finally have their rightful lot to develop programmes in their areas, rights denied for a long time under previous administrations.

This would allow people to choose better representatives, even from the opposition bench without the fear of losing out to their government counterparts, which ultimately increases the quality of Parliament and our future leaders. 

Each of these reforms carry with it an opportunity to advance the democratic cause in Malaysia, increasing its crawl space in a way the Bersih rallies did for freedom of assembly.

These should be worked on slowly, and diligently, to a point where it would improve our country, whoever wins the next elections.

The continued betterment of Malaysia – democratically, economically and socially – should be an iterative process, one that is strong enough to disregard politics, a benchmark for true political maturity.

Wishing all readers Selamat Hari Malaysia 2021! – September 15, 2021.

* Emmanuel Joseph firmly believes that Klang is the best place on Earth, and that motivated people can do far more good than any leader with motive.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.