Speak out or speak not?

Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar dropped a bombshell recently when he commented that Sarawak MPs are debate shy and his comment needless to say has incurred wrath from his fellow colleagues in the BN.

And just before he made that statement, I happened to attend an informal discussion of which the topic was centred on politics with a group of professionals.

A senior lawyer who was present together with us agreed when someone in the room opined that an elected representative must always speak out as his role is to represent the people.

So could what Datuk Wan Junaidi say be akin to washing the dirty linen in the public as his criticism has exposed the “incompetency” of the BN elected representatives?

Before we go any further, it is best that we look at what the politicians have to say on the matter.

The Chief Minister, Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud had commented that there were better things for an elected representative to do other than just speaking out in Parliament as he believes that action is always speaking louder than words.

The state BN chief being a seasoned politician also revealed the many obstacles state elected representatives, especially those from the rural areas, have to face due to the geographical factor. Fair comment I guess.

One thing that we have to understand is that it is not always easy to get the opportunity to speak in the Parliament or State Legislative Assembly due to limited opportunity as stated by Deputy Chief Minister, Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam.

Therefore, he said BN MPs must arrange among themselves for the opportunity to speak in the august house.

SUPP Organising Secretary, Datuk Peter Chin meanwhile opined that debate is only one of the many yardsticks to measure an elected representative’s performance.

The revelation by Datuk Wan Junaidi was picked up fast enough by state DAP chairman and state assemblyman for Bukit Assek, Wong Ho Leng when he wrote in his blog that BN MPs must resign for not speaking out.

He said MPs should get themselves noticed in Parliament by speaking out the grievances and plight of the people.

Remaining mute, as he stated would give the federal a wrong impression that all is well in the state.

So there you are some of the comments made by politicians when they were asked by the press.

But how about we, the people who voted for these politicians to be in the so-called higher up and what is our expectation of them?

First and foremost, I believe the utmost duty of an elected representative is to speak out in the august house.

I am not parroting what the DAP chairman had said but an elected representative is a person who writes and passes law and therefore, it is incumbent upon him to speak out in the august house whenever necessary.

In order to be able to debate constructively, an elected representative is supposed to be well read and knowledgeable for his ignorance may cause the people to suffer in the long run due to poorly drafted law.

But the sad thing is that most of the politicians instead of debating on the laws have resorted to using the gallery for mudslinging to score political mileage.

The way I see it, much of our elected representatives’ time has been taken up to serving the ground literally, resulting in them having less time to do the much needed research into their debates.

A friend of mine lashed out at most of our politicians when he said that their duty had been reduced to seeing drainage problem.

But I tend to sympathise with our politicians and we should not be so quick to blame them for such a cheap publicity as it is the people who expect them to come personally to do the inspection when this could be done by the relevant departments.

What needs to be done is political education and awareness among the people on the rightful duties of an elected representative.

While I agree that an elected representative must make sure that he delivers his work such as making sure the infrastructure is in good condition, he must also bring up the issues or plights affecting the people to the august house.

Speaking without fear or favour is essential and is requested of an elected representative and failure to do so is tantamount of betraying the trust of the people who elect them.

As whether Datuk Wan Junaidi is washing the dirty linen in the public, I guess BN backbenchers must take the criticism positively and should not be sulking over such a trivial matter.

Move on and tell the truth when it is expected of you or the people will judge you come the time.

To all the YBs, speak out you must but speak not if you are unprepared.