Between legalization of politics and politicization of law: politics, law and economic development in Malaysia
Sepanjang dua puluh tahun negara dipimpin oleh Dato’ Sri (kini Tun) Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, undang-undang menduduki tempat utama dalam politik Malaysia. Penggunaan undang-undang yang menindas untuk menakutnakutkan dan menekan pihak lawan politik, penundukan badan kehakiman – sebagaimana didakwa ol...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
UKM Press
2004
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://irep.iium.edu.my/47636/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/47636/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/47636/1/Journal_Article_Akademika.pdf |
| id |
iium-47636 |
|---|---|
| recordtype |
eprints |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Local University |
| institution |
International Islamic University Malaysia |
| building |
IIUM Repository |
| collection |
Online Access |
| language |
English |
| topic |
JA Political science (General) |
| spellingShingle |
JA Political science (General) Mohamad, Marzuki Between legalization of politics and politicization of law: politics, law and economic development in Malaysia |
| description |
Sepanjang dua puluh tahun negara dipimpin oleh Dato’ Sri (kini Tun) Dr.
Mahathir Mohamad, undang-undang menduduki tempat utama dalam politik
Malaysia. Penggunaan undang-undang yang menindas untuk menakutnakutkan
dan menekan pihak lawan politik, penundukan badan kehakiman
– sebagaimana didakwa oleh pengkritik – kepada menjadi hanya sebagai
‘inang’ kepada eksekutif politik, dan pelbagai pindaan perlembagaan yang
seolah-olah memperbesarkan kedudukan eksekutif politik itu vis-à-vis
bahagian-bahagian lain telah menimbulkan perasaan kurang senang
terhadap kerajaan. Mainan (interplay) antara undang-undang dan politik
di Malaysia, sekurang-kurangnya sehingga berakhirnya era kepimpinan
Mahathir memperlihatkan, pada satu segi, pengurangan peranan badan
kehakiman dalam mengawal perjalanan kerajaan, kedudukan eksekutif politik
yang semakin kukuh, dan pengungkapan wacana politik anti-pluralist
sehingga menjejaskan kebebasan politik dan hak asasi manusia. Pada segi
yang lain, kebangkitan politik baru menghasilkan hubungan atau ikatan
kumpulan-kumpulan sosial yang bersifat rentas-etnik dan rentas-bahagian,
selain kemunculan developmentalism sebagai satu gerak kuasa pengesahan
yang baru. Mainan antara undang-undang dan politik ini juga menyaksikan
contestations yang berlaku antara wacana mengenai developmentalism – di
bawah nama keadilan pembangunan – dan hak asasi telah melimpah ke dalam
domain perundangan. Tuntutan supaya diadakan pembaharuan, kembalikan
kebebasan badan kehakiman, hormat hak asasi manusia dan supaya adanya
lebih banyak participatory democracy menunjukkan bukan sahaja sistem
perundangan, tetapi keseluruhan sistem politik telah terbicara. Makalah ini
cuba menerangkan keadaan yang membingungkan antara politik, undangundang
dan pembangunan ekonomi di Malaysia yang terdapat di tengahtengah
wacana yang berubah-ubah berkaitan dengan kesahan, iaitu antara
wacana mengenai hak asasi pada satu pihak dan developmentalism pada
pihak yang lain. Keadaan ini berlaku dalam arena undang-undang yang
constrained tetapi tetap contested.
Law has taken the center stage in Malaysian politics during the long twentytwo
years of Dato’ Sri (now Tun) Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’s premiership. The
use of repressive laws to intimidate and crush political opponents, the
regression of the judiciary – as critics charged – to a mere handmaiden of
political executive, and the various constitutional amendments which seemingly
aggrandized the political executive vis-à-vis other state sections invited much
popular disaffection with the government. The interplay between law and
politics in Malaysia, at least up to the end of Mahathir years witnessed, on the
one hand, the decline of judiciary’s role to keep the government in check,
stronger political executive, and articulation of anti-pluralist political
discourse at the expense of individual freedom and fundamental human rights.
On the other hand, the rise of new politics brought forth cross-ethnic and
cross-sectional alliances of social groups challenging government’s political
legitimacy, as well as the emergence of developmentalism as a new
legitimating force. This interplay between law and politics also witnessed the
contestations between the discourse of developmentalism – under the name of
developmental justice – and that of human rights spilled over into the legal
domain. The call for reform, restoration of the independence of judiciary,
respect for human rights and greater participatory democracy seemed to
indicate that not only the legal system, but also the whole political system has
been under trial. This paper attempts to explain perplexing nexus between
politics, law and economic development in Malaysia amidst swinging
pendulum of legitimacy discourse, with human rights discourse on the one side
and “developmentalism” on the other, taking place in constrained but
contested legal arena. |
| format |
Article |
| author |
Mohamad, Marzuki |
| author_facet |
Mohamad, Marzuki |
| author_sort |
Mohamad, Marzuki |
| title |
Between legalization of politics and politicization of law: politics, law and economic development in Malaysia |
| title_short |
Between legalization of politics and politicization of law: politics, law and economic development in Malaysia |
| title_full |
Between legalization of politics and politicization of law: politics, law and economic development in Malaysia |
| title_fullStr |
Between legalization of politics and politicization of law: politics, law and economic development in Malaysia |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Between legalization of politics and politicization of law: politics, law and economic development in Malaysia |
| title_sort |
between legalization of politics and politicization of law: politics, law and economic development in malaysia |
| publisher |
UKM Press |
| publishDate |
2004 |
| url |
http://irep.iium.edu.my/47636/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/47636/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/47636/1/Journal_Article_Akademika.pdf |
| first_indexed |
2023-09-18T21:07:46Z |
| last_indexed |
2023-09-18T21:07:46Z |
| _version_ |
1777411048099282944 |
| spelling |
iium-476362016-07-18T23:46:12Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/47636/ Between legalization of politics and politicization of law: politics, law and economic development in Malaysia Mohamad, Marzuki JA Political science (General) Sepanjang dua puluh tahun negara dipimpin oleh Dato’ Sri (kini Tun) Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, undang-undang menduduki tempat utama dalam politik Malaysia. Penggunaan undang-undang yang menindas untuk menakutnakutkan dan menekan pihak lawan politik, penundukan badan kehakiman – sebagaimana didakwa oleh pengkritik – kepada menjadi hanya sebagai ‘inang’ kepada eksekutif politik, dan pelbagai pindaan perlembagaan yang seolah-olah memperbesarkan kedudukan eksekutif politik itu vis-à-vis bahagian-bahagian lain telah menimbulkan perasaan kurang senang terhadap kerajaan. Mainan (interplay) antara undang-undang dan politik di Malaysia, sekurang-kurangnya sehingga berakhirnya era kepimpinan Mahathir memperlihatkan, pada satu segi, pengurangan peranan badan kehakiman dalam mengawal perjalanan kerajaan, kedudukan eksekutif politik yang semakin kukuh, dan pengungkapan wacana politik anti-pluralist sehingga menjejaskan kebebasan politik dan hak asasi manusia. Pada segi yang lain, kebangkitan politik baru menghasilkan hubungan atau ikatan kumpulan-kumpulan sosial yang bersifat rentas-etnik dan rentas-bahagian, selain kemunculan developmentalism sebagai satu gerak kuasa pengesahan yang baru. Mainan antara undang-undang dan politik ini juga menyaksikan contestations yang berlaku antara wacana mengenai developmentalism – di bawah nama keadilan pembangunan – dan hak asasi telah melimpah ke dalam domain perundangan. Tuntutan supaya diadakan pembaharuan, kembalikan kebebasan badan kehakiman, hormat hak asasi manusia dan supaya adanya lebih banyak participatory democracy menunjukkan bukan sahaja sistem perundangan, tetapi keseluruhan sistem politik telah terbicara. Makalah ini cuba menerangkan keadaan yang membingungkan antara politik, undangundang dan pembangunan ekonomi di Malaysia yang terdapat di tengahtengah wacana yang berubah-ubah berkaitan dengan kesahan, iaitu antara wacana mengenai hak asasi pada satu pihak dan developmentalism pada pihak yang lain. Keadaan ini berlaku dalam arena undang-undang yang constrained tetapi tetap contested. Law has taken the center stage in Malaysian politics during the long twentytwo years of Dato’ Sri (now Tun) Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’s premiership. The use of repressive laws to intimidate and crush political opponents, the regression of the judiciary – as critics charged – to a mere handmaiden of political executive, and the various constitutional amendments which seemingly aggrandized the political executive vis-à-vis other state sections invited much popular disaffection with the government. The interplay between law and politics in Malaysia, at least up to the end of Mahathir years witnessed, on the one hand, the decline of judiciary’s role to keep the government in check, stronger political executive, and articulation of anti-pluralist political discourse at the expense of individual freedom and fundamental human rights. On the other hand, the rise of new politics brought forth cross-ethnic and cross-sectional alliances of social groups challenging government’s political legitimacy, as well as the emergence of developmentalism as a new legitimating force. This interplay between law and politics also witnessed the contestations between the discourse of developmentalism – under the name of developmental justice – and that of human rights spilled over into the legal domain. The call for reform, restoration of the independence of judiciary, respect for human rights and greater participatory democracy seemed to indicate that not only the legal system, but also the whole political system has been under trial. This paper attempts to explain perplexing nexus between politics, law and economic development in Malaysia amidst swinging pendulum of legitimacy discourse, with human rights discourse on the one side and “developmentalism” on the other, taking place in constrained but contested legal arena. UKM Press 2004-07 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/47636/1/Journal_Article_Akademika.pdf Mohamad, Marzuki (2004) Between legalization of politics and politicization of law: politics, law and economic development in Malaysia. Akademika, 65 (1). pp. 45-67. ISSN 0126-5008 http://ejournal.ukm.my/akademika/article/view/2864 |