Tyranny of the ruling minority


ALTHOUGH the rakyat have three prime ministers come and gone in the last three years, power in the country and how it is being governed is concentrated in the hands of a small group of elites.

The general public may find the idea farfetched or preposterous.

This small group is comprised of the leader of the country’s biggest political party and a handful of council members and close advisers, major corporate owners, directors and high-ranking officers of the armed forces.

They work and play together, employ one another, and marry into each other’s families. Their common experiences have given them shared perspectives in terms of economics and politics.

Just look at the upper echelons of the country’s leadership since 1981. Top positions wield the power to run the programmes and activities of major political, economic, legal, educational, cultural, scientific and civic institutions. The occupants of these offices control half of the nation’s industrial, communications, transportation and banking assets, and two-thirds of all insurance assets.

In addition, they direct substantial resources of government trust funds and government-linked entities, be it listed and those unlisted on Bursa Malaysia.

They hold the most influential posts in the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the federal government, and control over the mass media.

At the top of this small group, another small group the elite makes all of the most important decisions for everyone below.

A relatively small middle tier consists of individuals one normally thinks of when discussing senators, MPs, assemblymen, mayors, party leaders and the like.

The rakyat sit the bottom. They are the average men and women in the country who are powerless to hold the top level accountable.

In short, a small group of people decides the life-and-death issues for the nation, leaving relatively minor matters for the middle tier to handle and almost nothing for the rakyat to decide for themselves.

It is indeed a grim picture.

Many of this group’s members have enjoyed a head-start in life by virtue of their being born into prominent families. Many have tried but rarely succeeded in being co-opted into this small group.

This small group of elites draw strength from controlling the highest positions in the political and business world and from shared values and beliefs.

They occupy the command posts of society. These positions give their holders enormous authority over not just governmental, but financial, educational, social, civic, and cultural institutions as well.

Decisions made in the boardrooms of large corporations and banks affect inflation and employment rates. The influence of the chief executives of Tenaga Nasional, Telekom, Maybank, CIMB, for instance, sometimes rivals that of the international trade or domestic trade ministers.

As the government continues to play a more paternalistic role in governing the country, from regulating and taxing businesses that enjoyed windfall in profits to the detriment of its public shareholders, to pushing for a tobacco ban on youths born after 2005, corporate institutions play a large role in carrying out the government’s bidding.

Conversely, industries now rely heavily on federal support, subsidies, protection, and loans to ensure the success of its ventures.

Thus, even though the business community and politicians constantly taunt each other, the fact remains that they have grown so close that they prosper together far more than they do separately.

At the top of the pyramid, this elite group makes all the decisions. Once the policy has been formulated at the top it is whittled down to the public.

The middle level in the government worry mainly about how best to implement these policies. They are a colourful and noisy bunch who attracts the attention of press. But for the most part its activities, those in the middle level are motivated by rather selfish and parochial interests, using all sorts of gimmicks to promote themselves.

As a substantial portion of the rakyat become increasingly alienated from politics, coupled with apathy and disinterest, as can be seen in the decline in their participation in the recent state elections, all these only serve to enhance the influence and control of this small group over the country. It is no surprise that these elites will continue to control and govern this nation for years to come, no matter who is elected to be the government of the day.

And the rakyat is left to continue with their symbolic activity – going to the polls every four to five years.

By virtue of the positions they hold, this minority group has unprecedented authority to make decisions of national and international consequence.

One important belief of this small group appears to be that the primary responsibility of the government is to maintain a favourable climate for business activities. Other responsibilities, such as social welfare and concern for the environment, are secondary to that task. – June 16, 2022.

* FLK 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.


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