The Quality of Our Parlimentarians

For quite sometimes now we have read in the newspapers and seen in the televisions how badly some of our elected representatives in the Parliment (Member of Parliment - MP) behave.  The words they use, the gestures they make and the lack of respect they show to their colleagues make one wonder what kind of people are these!!!  And these are the people we have elected and trusted to manage our country.

Perhaps I am not wrong to say that the quality of MPs have deteriorated over times - the MPs in the 1960s and 1970s were better.  I do not know if any effort has been made to improve the quality of MPs - if there are efforts made, then the result is not yet seen.

I am not sure about you, but I am surely getting more and more fed up with these MPs.  I would like to suggest the following actions be taken to improve the quality of MPs:

1. Qualification - Ensure all aspiring election candidates possess proper qualification to become MP.  It is not enough for an aspirant to have medical degree, law degree, masters or even PhD.  As we know, even if one have all these degrees, one still has to learn and pass the driving test in order to drive a car.  Similarly, to become a parlimentarian, an aspirant must qualify the parlimentarian tests.  
   
   For this purpose, a college for MPs should be established and all aspiring candidates must obtain qualification from this college.  The college must train all participants in all aspects of being MPs - I am sure there are many area to be covered but it should include proper interpersonal behaviour, public speaking, research method, conflict management, anger management, etc.  Their psychological conditions should also be determined.  The participants must pass all tests in order to get their qualification and be able to stand for election.
   
   It should be the responsibility of the Election Commission to ensure that a person must have a valid qualification from this college before the person is allowed to stand for election.
   
   
2. Enforcement.  Just as the traffic police will summon and penalise a driver who breaks the traffic laws, so must the Parliment have some system to penalise any MP who break the Parlimentary rules and laws.  At the moment, an MP who breaks such law can be suspended from the Parliment sitting for a few days.  I think this is not enough.  Perhaps the affected MP could even welcome such suspension, as he can then attend to other matters.  
   
   It would be better if these MPs be penalised monetarily, say RM1,000 for the first offence, RM5,000 for the second offence, RM10,000 for the third offence, etc. If they still continue to commit similar offences, then perhaps they should be disqualified from the Parliment forever and their seats be declared vacant. 

God know best.

Wassalam.