IT has been more than seven months since the historic 14th Malaysian general election. Suffice to say, the euphoria of Malaysia Baru has died down as Malaysians grow increasingly frustrated with the new Pakatan Harapan (PH) government. Many issues, such as the recent party hopping, rightly deserved the harshest criticism from all quarters.

However, PH should also be credited with having undertaken several crucial reforms. It is not easy to reverse the damage done by Barisan Nasional (BN) which accumulated over 60 years, and neither could it be done overnight.

Hence, several of the reforms which I list below are, in my opinion, positive steps taken by PH on the long road towards strengthening good governance and democracy in Malaysia.

I am under no illusion that PH is perfect, neither am I patting their backs for a job well done. Many of these reforms are still half-baked and could very well be abandoned. Therefore, we must continue to assert for the reforms to be followed through and implemented more comprehensively, along with the other promises in the PH manifesto.

(1)   Parliament

Under the previous BN government, Parliament was merely a rubber stamp. Numerous legislations, such as the Anti-Fake News Act and the redelineation report, were bulldozed through without any meaningful debate and scrutiny just before the last general election. Also, who would forget Pandikar Amin’s “bloody fool” remark when he ended the RUU355 debate abruptly by not allowing the then opposition to participate and reply.

In contrast, PH and the new Dewan Rakyat Speaker, Mohamad Arif, have strengthened the function and role of Parliament. Some of these are small but meaningful steps, such as reallowing journalists’ presence in the parliament lobby and uploading ministers’ replies to questions on the website.

More importantly, Parliament has set up six new Select Committees and two Caucuses. These select committees, comprising of Members of Parliament from both sides of the divide, will allow more power to Parliament for scrutiny and governance. For example, the new Select Committee on Major Public Appointments will hopefully lead to more transparency in electing the new Election Commission (EC) members.

The opposition should also be credited with forming a shadow cabinet, which PH had failed to do when they were in the position. Some went further to claim that opposition MPs, such as Ahmad Maslan, have been doing a good job (although I must disagree).

(2)   Elections

The government was in the midst of forming a constitutional tribunal to remove the previous EC members. Thankfully, the EC members decided to resign and save us the trouble. As we bid them good riddance, the new EC chairman, Azhar Harun, has been a breath of fresh air.

Under his leadership, the EC has made several improvements. The EC has acknowledged the existence of phantom voters and is in the midst of cleaning up the electoral roll. In the recent by-elections, independent observers, such as the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) and the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam), finally received official accreditation and were allowed to monitor the by-elections. The EC has also announced that it is studying ways to strengthen campaigning regulations to avoid bribery.

More substantive electoral reform is definitely in the works. An Electoral Reform Committee has been formed to study and make recommendations within two years. Hopefully, meaningful reforms, such as a new electoral system and automatic registration, will be in place before the next general election.

(3)   Judiciary and Attorney-General’s Chambers

In the judiciary, the new Chief Justice, Richard Malanjum, is the first from East Malaysia and is highly respected within the legal fraternity. Consider, in contrast, the former chief justice, Raus Sharif, whose appointment was challenged in court for being unconstitutional.

In addition, the new Chief Justice recently made a statement asking judges to not worry about rocking the boat and to dissent if there are good reasons to do so. These are early signs that the judiciary is on the road towards greater independence.

In my opinion, new Attorney-General Tommy Thomas, also deserves more credit. Working behind the limelight, he has worked tirelessly on the 1MDB cases to recover our stolen money. He has overseen the smooth repossession and auctioning of the Equanimity, and in October, the AG’s Chambers filed a case in the United Kingdom courts to relieve Malaysia from having to pay the balance of US$4.32 billion (RM18 billion) to IPIC because of fraud.

Many of these cases are complex and tedious, involving multiple cross-border transactions and legalities, and they are in the safe hands of the new AG.

(4)   Economy

The GST has been abolished, which will bring some relief to the pockets of the poor. Unnecessary mega projects were revised and cancelled, via tough negotiations, in order to better manage the country’s debt. At the same time, more financial scandals, Tabung Haji and GST refund, are slowly coming to the fore. None of these would have happened if Najib Razak and his cohorts were still in power.

Credit should be given to the finance minister for introducing reforms to the financial and budgeting system. In preparing for the recent budget, the government has adopted the new zero-based budgeting approach. This is an important step as it compels ministries and government departments to assess and justify what is really needed, as opposed to just increasing the previous years’ template.

The government has also stopped all direct tenders for projects. Under an open-tender policy, there will be greater transparency and competition, which will all benefit the citizens in the long run.

(5)   MACC and Corruption

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is slowly regaining its teeth as numerous big fishes were charged. Najib Razak and Rosmah Mansor have been dragged to court to face 39 and 22 charges respectively. Tailing them, Zahid Hamidi, Musa Aman, Isa Samad, Irwan Serigar, Shafee Abdullah, Rizal Mansor, Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and Arul Kanda are all also facing charges relating to corruption.

MPs have also been made to declare their assets. Although there is still room for improvement, MACC and citizens can now track the assets of the MPs for any unexplained and huge increase.

Slowly, MACC is regaining public confidence, but more needs to be done. The announced ombudsman system, for example, would be crucial, and more reforms must be undertaken to ensure the MACC is truly independent.

* Chan Tsu Chong reads The Malaysian Insight.

* 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.