High Time to Set Up Bipartisan Parliamentary Select Committee On Foreign Affairs - Geostrategist

By V. Sankara KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 10 (Bernama) -- With a new government in place after the 15th General Election, it is high time for Malaysia to set up a bipartisan parliamentary select committee comprising members of parliament (MPs) from both sides of the political divide in renewing the nation’s foreign policy and in ensuring an effective foreign policy decision-making process. Geostrategist Prof Dr Azmi Hassan, a senior fellow at the Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research (NASR), said this was to ensure the minister concerned and the government adhered to different views before making any decision on major foreign policy-related matters. “We need to have a bipartisan parliamentary select committee to discuss any foreign policy-related matters before it was determined by Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry (Wisma Putra). “This is to ensure that any major foreign policy-related matters are not determined at the whims and fancies of the minister and the ministry alone,” he told Bernama when asked whether there is a gap in the decision-making process relating to foreign policy affairs in Malaysia. Dr Azmi said the parliamentary select committee on foreign affairs was needed as Malaysia, though being a small country, plays a critical role in global geopolitics. Citing an example, the geostrategist said Malaysia was among 11 nations that abstained from United Nations (UN) vote on debate about China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims during the previous administration and there was no explanation by Wisma Putra as to why the government made such decision, though many sides demanded Malaysia to state its clear position on Uyghur Muslims. “This happens when there is no parliamentary select committee to discuss the matter or put out an explanation as to why Wisma Putra or the government took the stance,” he added. Thus, he said the formation of parliamentary select committee was necessary to discuss critical foreign policy matters, stressing that the committee will ensure that there is no partisan decision-making concerning foreign matters. “The select committee was needed to close the gap between the needs and aspirations concerning decision-making process on foreign policy-related matters by Wisma Putra,” he added. Meanwhile, a barrister, Vel Manoharan in concurring with Azmi said that bipartisanship is inherently a less political approach than partisanship. “To be bipartisan is to be virtuous, understanding and open-minded. Bipartisans are thought to be above the electoral strategising and maneuvering we associate with partisans, that means bipartisans put principle above electoral self-interest,” said Vel who was called to the Bar of England and Wales in May this year. -- BERNAMA