From the way our MPs conduct themselves in the Dewan Rakyat and as public servants, it is clear they have limited understanding of the federal constitution and parliamentary democracy, which is the form of government we practise.

The problem arises in the interpretations and especially when the federal constitution does not spell out the procedures or processes to achieve a democratic outcome.

In such cases, common sense should dictate that the best guide to making decisions is to fall back on the democratic principles on which our parliamentary democracy is formed.

If the MPs had followed the principles of democracy would we have had three unconstitutional governments? Would the current appointed prime minister Anwar Ibrahim have called for a confidence vote by tying the hands of the MPs through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)?

In a more recent case, would the incumbent prime minister have failed to attend the opening of the debate on the royal address at the Dewan Rakyat to move the motion of thanks to the king in which he also wanted to thank the previous king? Would he have requested for a change in the timing of delivering the motion of thanks from the Speaker, Johari Abdul?

Would the Speaker have complied and changed the order of the conventional practice to accommodate the prime minister’s request?

If the Speaker understood democratic principles, would he also have accommodated Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s motion — on behalf of the government — to suspend Bersatu’s Tasek Gelugor MP Wan Saiful Wan Jan from the Dewan Rakyat for six months for alluding to Anwar as being corrupt when Wan Saiful had already retracted his statement earlier at the request of the Speaker?

These questions are asked because there are doubts in the minds of the people as to whether the MPs are conducting themselves in some key areas according to the authority bestowed on them by the federal constitution to carry out their duties, and according to democratic principles to ensure the independence of the institutions they represent and respect the separation of powers.

So far, there are no attempts by the MPs to right the wrongs and until they do, the people can expect such lapses to continue to occur. These will become the norm.

There is no point in bringing such lapses to light again as there is no demonstrable will to act in accordance with the federal constitution and democratic principles. Until such a will emerges, there will be silence and the burden of suffering in silence will fall on the people while the leaders do as they please and get away with it.