FOCUS ON SABAH


House. In the United Kingdom, the Speaker of the British Parliament is also an elected member while at the same time representing a constituency. In Sabah, the current Speaker whilst being also an elected member of the Legislative Assembly enjoys the same privileges and treatments accorded to an elected member. He represents a constituency and as long as he reminds so he is entitled to represent and lead the people in his constituency. Like all unicameral legislature, bills tabled and passed by the house after deliberations by members are not subjected to any further scrutiny by a upper house. Laws passed by the House are sent to the Tuan Yang Terutama Yang Di-Pertua Negeri who is the Governor of the State for his assent before they are enforced. The Governor forms part of the State Legislative Assembly. His Excellency delivers the government policy speech during the yearly opening of the legislature. Members will then debate on the policy speech and the government has a right of reply to issues raised by Members. Members are free to debate and bring up any issues of importance affecting their constituencies. They are also at liberty to raise issues that affect the state, to question the Government on its policies and state budget, and to question its Ministers during sittings about the performance of government ministries and departments. In recent years Members began to raise issues of national interest that affect the State for example on security, education and health. In the 2013 general election more Young Members from both the government and Opposition are being elected by the people as the “Yang Berhormat “or the Honourable. However less than 3 percent of the Members are women


which is very low if compared to some Commonwealth countries where women made up as high as high 30 percent of Members in their respective parliaments. The current Chief Minister of Sabah The Right Honourable Datuk Seri Panglima Musa Aman had however said on several occasions that more women are will be given the opportunity to become the “Yang Berhormat” in the future now that more women are educated and actively involved in politics. This gender imbalance in the representation in the Sabah State Legislative Assembly is reflected in the government as there are only one woman full Cabinet Minister and two women Assistant Ministers. There is however more avenue for women to become Members in the Sabah State Legislative Assembly given the fact that nearly half of the voting population are females. The role of Members in the Sabah State Legislative Assembly are two pronged namely as legislators and as representatives of their constituencies. As legislators they scrutinised, deliberate and vote on bills and actively participate on any business of the house when the house is sessions. But they do this only on of average 14 days a year when the House sits usually in the month of April, July and November. Most of their time are spent in their respective constituencies where they “turun padang” or to go to the ground literally to meet the people, attending to their needs and solving the many common problems and issues raised such as to provide and upgrade facilities like roads, community halls, supply of treated water to villages, inspection of small and big projects implemented by the government and many more. Members comes from a varied background such as lawyers, economist, doctors,


engineers, teachers, community leaders, businessmen etc. The law does not prohibit a |member from practising his or her profession as for example lawyers, doctors etc. This is true if a Member does not hold any government post such as Minister or Assistant Minister. In Sabah, about 90 percent of the constituencies are rural based. Therefore it is common for Members during their “turun padang” (to go to the ground) to spend days on end in their constituencies. Members in the Sabah State Legislative Assembly are also popularly referred to as “Wakil Rakyat” or the literal English meaning as the people’s representative. As the people’s representative, they are expected to be the bridge between the government and the people in all aspect of constituency life. One veteran “Wakil Rakyat” has often said and with full agreements from other Members that being one, people always believe that he or she is all powerful and can provide everything should the need arise at least in his or her constituency. For example if a calamity happened within his constituency he is expected to be amongst the first to arrive and to provide assistance. Sabah has a Ministerial form of Government where there is a State Cabinet headed by a Chief Minister, 3 Deputy Chief Ministers and 7 Ministers. The Ministers are assisted by 18 Assistant Ministers assigned to the various ministries. The Cabinet Ministers and the Assistant Ministers sit on the Front Bench row of the Legislative Chamber whilst the government Members without government portfolios or Opposition Members sit opposite as Backbenchers. The sitting arrangement is a format close to that of the House of Commons of the British Parliament. The Standing Orders


that governs the proceedings of the Legislative Assembly was adopted directly from the Parliament of Singapore Standing Orders although the Sabah State legislative Assembly’s Standing Order bears similarities to that of the Malaysian Parliament as well. Over the years the Sabah State Legislature’s Standing Orders have been continually amended to suit the requirements of the assembly. Being a single Chamber Legislature, it is similar to that of the legislative assemblies found in all the states of Malaysia.


When the Federation of Malaysia was established on 16th September 1963 the Westminster model of parliamentary democracy was adopted as being most suitable for the new nation. This is not surprising given the historical ties that existed between Malaysia and the United Kingdom. The Parliament of Malaysia therefore has two chambers the House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat) and the Senate (Dewan Negara) similar to the British Parliament which has two chambers the House of Commons and the House of Lord. Meanwhile, the state legislatures in Malaysia has only one chamber. Being a One chamber legislature works well with Sabah. Like the Malaysian Parliament Sabah State Legislative Assembly is a democratic institution where bills area debated and laws are passed, the government scrutinised during question time, Members raised issues affecting their constituencies etc. Democracy is alive in Sabah. This is enshrined in both the State and Federal constitutions. People are free to elect “Wakil Rakyat” of their choice in state general elections of which Sabah has had 14. The Sabah State Legislative Assembly has come a long way since the institution was first established about 100 years ago.


The Parliamentarian | 2015: Issue One - Sabah | XI


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