Home Coalitions Clean and Fair Elections Pembangkang perlu bentuk kabinet bayangan untuk semak-imbang dan bersaing dengan kerajaan (Malay/English)

Pembangkang perlu bentuk kabinet bayangan untuk semak-imbang dan bersaing dengan kerajaan (Malay/English)

The federal government and all state governments should institutionalise the practice of shadow cabinets as part of our democratic processes

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[ENGLISH VERSION BELOW] Gabungan Pilihan Raya Bersih dan Adil (Bersih 2.0) telah melancarkan laporan kajian bertajuk “Kerangka Kabinet Bayangan untuk Malaysia” dan menyeru parti pembangkang untuk bekerjasama bagi membentuk kabinet bayangan di peringkat persekutuan dan negeri untuk menyemak kerajaan serta bersaing dengan lebih berkesan.

Kabinet bayangan sama ada di peringkat persekutuan atau negeri, akan menghasilkan persaingan politik kepada kerajaan dengan setiap menteri persekutuan atau exco negeri dibayangi oleh Pembangkang yang mempunyai polisi alternatif tersendiri.

Laporan ini telah disediakan oleh Maha Balakrishnan dengan naungan oleh Bersih 2.0.

Laporan ini mencadangkan beberapa perkara kepada pembangkang di peringkat persekutuan dan negeri:

1. Membentuk kabinet bayangan dengan sokongan meluas oleh pembangkang di Parlimen atau dewan undangan negeri kerana lebih banyak sokongan diberikan kepada kabinet bayangan, lebih kukuh pengaruhnya untuk mendesak akses dan kelebihan di peringkat institusi.

2. Menteri atau exco bayangan perlu dipilih berdasarkan merit terlebih dahulu. Mereka sewajarnya mempunyai pengalaman dalam bidang yang mereka bayangi. Barisan kabinet bayangan perlu mencerminkan kepelbagaian masyarakat yang diwakili seperti parti politik, fraksi, etnik, jantina, umur dan kewilayahan.

3. Seorang menteri bayangan perlu dilantik untuk membayangi setiap kementerian kerajaan. Menteri bayangan perlu menjadi jurucakap utama bagi isu-isu yang dibangkitkan pembangkang.

4. Kabinet bayangan perlu bermesyuarat secara tetap sekurang-kurangnya secara mingguan untuk membayangi kabinet kerajaan. Perkara yang perlu menjadi agenda utama termasuklah:

  • Laporan terkini oleh pemimpin bagi melaporkan situasi politik yang meliputi aktiviti dan langkah yang akan diambil oleh pembangkang
  • Pertimbangan kerajaan bagi urusan di Parlimen (contohnya rang undang-undang atau usul) serta respon dan strategi pembangkang, yang dipimpin oleh menteri bayangan yang berkaitan
  • Perbincangan perkara berbangkit berkenaan polisi pembangkang yang dipimpin oleh menteri bayangan berkaitan
  • Perbincangan wakil rakyat pembangkang untuk urusan Parlimen, termasuk usul dan soalan

Bersih 2.0 mengambil maklum bahawa telah ada kabinet bayangan yang dibentuk oleh Pakatan Harapan dan Barisan Nasional sebelum ini, serta oleh PKR baru-baru ini dibawah kerajaan Perikatan Nasional.

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Bersih 2.0 menggesa kerajaan persekutuan dan semua kerajaan negeri untuk secara rasmi mengiktiraf dan menginstitusikan amalan kabinet bayangan sebagai sebahagian dari proses demokratik kita, dengan:

1. Memberikan kedudukan “pembangkang rasmi” kepada pembangkang majoriti di Parlimen di bawah kepimpinan ketua pembangkang.

2. Perintah tetap parlimen dan dewan undangan negeri perlu dipinda bagi memberikan keistimewaan dan kelebihan kepada menteri bayangan semasa prosedur parlimen seperti sesi soalan parlimen dan perbahasan perundangan. Kuasa dan autoriti ketua pembangkang perlu diformalkan serta wakil daripada kabinet bayangan perlu dilibatkan dalam rundingan bagi memutuskan jadual dan pembentangan urusan di dewan. Semakan ini juga perlu memperkenalkan lebih banyak peluang antara wakil rakyat pembangkang dan kerajaan yang bukan eksekutif.

3. Dalam jangka pendek dan sederhana, langkah-langkah harus diambil untuk menerapkan dan mengoperasikan amalan semasa pilihan raya, penjawat awam mesti bertemu dan memberi nasihat kepada pembangkang rasmi mengenai dasar serta manifesto pilihan raya sebagai persiapan untuk peralihan sekiranya pembangkang memenangi pilihan raya. Menteri bayangan pembangkang harus dibenarkan untuk mengemukakan soalan mengenai organisasi jabatan dan untuk berbincang dengan penjawat awam berkenaan perubahan organisasi kepada perkhidmatan awam. Sebagaimana dalam bidang kuasa lain, tanggungjawab penjawat awam untuk memberikan maklumat dan input dan melindungi mereka dari tindakan kerajaan harus dimasukkan dalam kod dan panduan rasmi seperti dalam manual kabinet.

Jawatankuasa pemandu Bersih 2.0

English version

Opposition should establish shadow cabinet to check and compete with government

The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih 2.0) has launched a research report entitled “A Framework for a Shadow Cabinet in Malaysia” and calls on opposition parties to work together in forming a shadow cabinet at the federal and state levels to check and compete with the government of the day more effectively.

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The shadow cabinet, whether at federal or state level, will provide healthy political competition to the government with every federal minister or state executive councillor being shadowed by an opposition member with their own alternative policy.

The research report was commissioned by Bersih 2.0 and written by Maha Balakrishnan.

The report recommends the following to opposition parties at federal and state levels:

1. Form a shadow cabinet with the widest possible support from among the parliamentary or state assembly opposition grouping, as the more support the shadow cabinet has, the stronger its influence to push for institutional access and privileges

2. Shadow federal ministers or state executive councillors should first and foremost be selected based on merit. They should have experience in the areas they have been appointed to. The line-up of any shadow cabinet should also reflect the diversity of the society it represents, in terms of political parties, factions, ethnicities, gender, age and regions

3. A single shadow minister should be appointed to shadow each ministry of exco of the government. The shadow minister should be the lead spokesperson for the issue from the opposition

4. The shadow cabinet should have regular meetings, at least weekly, to shadow the actual cabinet of the government. The standard items on the agenda should include:

  • A report or update by the leader providing a political overview that covers a review of the activities and measures taken by the opposition
  • Consideration of the government’s upcoming items of business in Parliament, (eg bills and motions) and of the opposition’s response and strategy, led by the relevant shadow minister
  • Discussion of outstanding matters of opposition policy, led by the respective shadow minister
  • Discussion of opposition members’ upcoming items of business in Parliament, including proposed motions and questions
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Bersih 2.0 recognises that there have been shadow cabinets established previously by Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional, and by PKR recently under the Perikatan Nasional government.

Bersih 2.0 further calls on the federal government and all state governments to officially recognise and institutionalise the practice of shadow cabinets as part of our democratic processes, by:

1. Conferring the standing of “official opposition” to the majority parliamentary group in the opposition under the leadership of the leader of the opposition.

2. The standing orders of Parliament and state assemblies be amended to give privileges and advantages to shadow ministers during procedures such as parliamentary questioning and legislative debates. It should formalise the power and authority of the leader of the opposition and/or a representative of the shadow cabinet to be consulted on decisions relating to the scheduling of the business in the House. The revisions should also introduce more equity of opportunity between the government bench and the opposition bench

3. In the immediate to medium term, steps should be taken to adopt and operationalise the practice that during an election, the public service must meet and advise the official opposition on its election policies and manifesto as part of the preparation for a transition in the event that the official opposition wins the election. Opposition shadow ministers should be allowed to ask questions about departmental organisation and to discuss with public servants organisational changes to the public service. As in other jurisdictions, the responsibility of public servants to provide such information and input, and their protection from repercussions from the government of the day, should be encapsulated in formal codes and guidelines such as in a cabinet manual.

Bersih 2.0 steering committee

The views expressed in Aliran's media statements and the NGO statements we have endorsed reflect Aliran's official stand. Views and opinions expressed in other pieces published here do not necessarily reflect Aliran's official position.

AGENDA RAKYAT - Lima perkara utama
  1. Tegakkan maruah serta kualiti kehidupan rakyat
  2. Galakkan pembangunan saksama, lestari serta tangani krisis alam sekitar
  3. Raikan kerencaman dan keterangkuman
  4. Selamatkan demokrasi dan angkatkan keluhuran undang-undang
  5. Lawan rasuah dan kronisme
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loyal malaysian
loyal malaysian
14 Mar 2021 4.31am

The boy who cried wolf dared not form a shadow cabinet from his opposition colleagues.
Bersih really has a high opinion of this Moo’s govt. to expect it to legalize the formation of shadow cabinets.
Get real, Bersih!

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