PRIME Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, on his inaugural address to Malaysians, reiterated his commitment to continue the national recovery council with the opposition as a bipartisan effort.

Malaysians have responded positively to the prime minister’s commitment and expect both sides to work hard to end the pandemic and economy crisis.

However, to what extent can the opposition make a lasting impact in managing the crisis?

Firstly, the council is part of a cabinet committee and the brainchild of former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

Recently, it has changed its status to council, the power to determine policy rests entirely with the cabinet, especially the prime minister as chairman of the council.

As such, the prime minister can set aside suggestions by the experts in the council if they contradict his wishes.

The council also consists of nine ministers, including the director-general of health, the chief secretary to the government, the director-general of the national security council and nine experts in various fields.

With a total of 21 current members of the council, to what extent can opposition MPs make a lasting impact in a “committee of experts”?

Why not a parliamentary committee?

To ensure the effectiveness of the council, a special parliamentary committee should be established as check and balance to examine the implementation of any recovery plans in the country.

This special parliamentary committee can strengthen check and balance on the implementation of national recovery plan objectively.

The council today is only accountable to the prime minister, and it can cause decisions to be made solely on interests of the government without considering alternative views.

The select committee can scrutinise council decisions to ensure that any issues that could be overlooked by the council.

The parliamentary special committee could also allow better access to information in formulating better policies.

Essentially, parliamentary special committees have capability to conduct investigations, studies, and engagement sessions with various stakeholders across various sectors to obtain feedback on the impact of any policies considered.

The MPs can also represent their views on behalf of the rakyat as opposed to the council’s bureaucracy, avoiding feedback.

The approach of forming a special parliamentary committee to monitor policies to overcome Covid-19 has been practised in several countries.

The Australian parliament established a senate select committee last year. This committee is chaired by an opposition MP.

It has seven members: three from the opposition, two from the government and two independent or minority parliamentarians.

The committee constantly publishes reports based on engagement with various sectors to review the government’s policy.

A move like this will ensure that Ismail’s government starts well and does not repeat the mistakes of the Muhyiddin administration, which failed to see Parliament as a strategic partner in managing the pandemic.

Bipartisan is the way forward

Malaysia can emulate this practice by including the presence of senators in this committee. The composition of the committee should not exceed nine people and an opposition MP should be elected as the chairman to spearhead this check and balance initiative.

Most important, the members should transcend party politics to welcome inclusivity.

Thus, the prime minister should introduce a special parliamentary committee should he be serious in prioritising the bipartisan spirit and government accountability.

This would allow his administration to avoid the failed leadership by Muhyiddin and avoid another government collapse, which have cost the rakyat dearly.

It is high time the government restore the faith in democracy by including cross-party co-operation, to achieve political stability in battling this pandemic for Malaysia. – September 1, 2021.

* Fakhrurrazi Rashid is research coordinator for Research for Social Advancement.

* 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.