HUMAN rights lawyer Ambiga Sreenevasan has slammed the country’s leaders who vied for the prime minister’s office amid a pandemic.

Instead of repairing weaknesses uncovered by the Covid-19 epidemic, politicians chose to take advantage of the situation, she said.

“(It was the) best time for us to fix systemic failures, but some leaders saw this as an opportunity, taking advantage of a population that was vulnerable,” Ambiga told The Malaysian Insight.

“Over the two difficult Covid years, it seemed we were driving to the twilight years. Corruption was okay as long as we labelled it something else. They did not modify their behaviour; instead they adjusted our values.”

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who replaced Dr Mahathir Mohamad, put the country into three lockdowns to curb the spread of Covid-19.

He also suspended parliamentary sittings and declared emergency law. Muhyiddin’s critics said this was an effort to preserve power rather than overcome the epidemic.

Seventeen months later, in August, Ismail Sabri Yaakob succeeded Muhyiddin.

Two years of lockdown had seen the government practise double standards in penalising Malaysians for breaching Covid-19 rules while letting off the rich and the powerful who had done the same.

While things are not looking up, Ambiga said her trust in the system has been restored by the judiciary.

“In the judgment, the pronouncement was loud and clear. Corruption is not okay and no one is above the law. It had seemed like we were heading for a derailment, when suddenly there was a course correction putting us back on track.”

She was referring to the Court of Appeal’s decision to uphold the conviction and jail sentence of Najib on charges of money laundering, abuse of power and criminal breach of trust linked to SRC International.

Ambiga said Malaysia has great past leaders such as Hussein Onn.

“Tun Hussein was known as a man of integrity. No one would dare to see him for favours or contracts. He was very particular about everything he wrote and said, always believing that a leader must choose his words carefully.

“How does this compare to the leaders we have today? Why is it so difficult to find leaders who have the attributes of Hussein Onn?

“We yearn for a return to those values,” she said, after receiving the Malaysian Bar’s Lifetime Achievement Award 2021 on Friday night.

Towards deliberative democracy

On the “Better Malaysia Assembly”, Ambiga said it is a move towards deliberative democracy without politics getting in the way.

She said the group was the best way to get parties on both sides of the divide to come together and discuss important issues pertaining to the nation.

The Better Malaysia Assembly is a non-partisan group led by banker Nazir Razak, who is the brother of Najib.

In November, Nazir, Ambiga and 54 others wrote to Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah for consent to form the group for the purpose of making systemic changes.

The group aims to reaffirm the principles of Malaysian nationhood and the implicit social contracts and will convene for deliberations and recommendations on how democracy, institutions and economy should function.

Nazir said it would take the group 18 to 24 months to deliberate, after which its recommendations would be put forth to Parliament for consideration and debate.

“This is a move towards deliberative democracy. This is a platform that is not new, it is used with success in other countries – Ireland, Chile and Iceland,” said Ambiga.

“It allows issues to be debated without politics getting in the way. It is a way for ordinary citizens to come together to help resolve issues without being concerned about politics or popularity or whether you are going to win the next election.

“If we remain in our respective corners, when do we ever meet in the middle to solve the problems of the country?”

Ambiga said she was criticised for teaming up with people with whom she had disagreements but said the issue was not about her and them.

“What I do know is that for the first time we all agree something must be done for the creation of a better Malaysia.” – December 12, 2021.