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Individual Ministerial Responsibility

- Minister is responsible towards his own conduct and conduct of his department.- Policy culpability during parliamentary debates, motion and question time rests on the minister

shoulders.

- A minister is required to answer questions supply into motion and justify his departmentspolicies.

- He must accept responsibility for all policy and administrative errors in his department even ifhe himself was not involved in the administrative bringing that is the subject of parliamentary

scrutiny

- Minister responsible to parliament for the acts of his civil servants. This convention preventsthe anonymity of civil servants and shields them from political attack on the floor of the House

of Parliament.

- Minister is politically responsible to acts of the monarch in which the minister participated.- Minister must open debate on departmental legislation.- Minister must resign if a vote of censure is passed against him.- A minister is responsible for personal misconduct, departmental error and policy error.

Personal misconduct

- One aspect of ministerial responsibility which has also given rise to particular concern is theconduct of ministries in relation to their private lives.

- The personal relationship of ministers are also matter which fall under intense public scrutiny.- Case : Dato Chua Soi Lek admitted that he was the person featured in a sensational sex DVD

that was widely being circulated in Johor and he formally announced his resignation from all

posts including member of parliament for Labis, vice presidency of MCA and minister of health

at a press conference.

- Case : National Feedlot Corporation Scandal- In late 2011, the National Feedlot Corporation issue became public knowledge.- Shahrizat and her family were accused of being misused RM250 million in public funds meant

for a state cattle ranch in Gemas, in the Southwestern state of Negeri Sembilan.

- Despite her strenuous denials, on March 11 2012, Shahrizat announced that she will bestepping down from her ministerial post effective April 8, coinciding the end of her term as

Senator.

- While in June 2012, the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) cleared Shahrizat of anywrongdoing in the NFC issue.

- UK example : Scandal between John Profumo and Christine Keeler 1963- In 1963, the Minister of Defence, Mr John Profumo was found to have been having a sexual

relationship with a prostitute Christine Keeler.

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- Ms Keeler, it was found, also enjoyed a close personal relationship with a Russian Naval Attacheat the Soviet Embassy.

- When questioned in the HOC, about the affair, Mr Profumo lied to the house. When truthemerged, he resigned from his office.

-

The cause of his resignation was not so much about the affair, but contempt of the Housecommitted through lying.

- Case : Westland Helicopter Affair- It related to the troubled British Helicopter Manufacturer Westland.- Faced with economic difficulties, westland was forced to contemplate accepting a buyout from

another company / group of companies.

- An initial offer was made by the American firm Sikorsky and another followed from a Europeandefence consortium.

- The PM, Margaret Thatcher and the westland board of directors favoured the American offerbut defence Secretary Michael Heseltine supported European offer.

- And Heseltine accused the gov of trying to keep him from talking about the rescue of thewestland helicopter firm.

- She had leaked a confidential letter, then tried to cover it up.- It resulted resignation by Heseltine.- Case : Salmonella Bacteria Crisis (1989)- In 1988, Edwina Curry, the UK health minister released a report stating that Salmonella cases

relating to eggs are reaching epidemic proportions in the UK.

- This lead to an immediate decrease in egg consumption with many egg producers going out ofbusiness.

- This eventually forced the minister to resign because of the political pressure.- It took the UK egg industry years to recover and improve egg consumption costing millions of

pounds.

- Case : Falkland crisis 1982- Falkland crisis is about the Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, a remote UK colony in the

South Atlantic.

- In this incident, Lord Carrington and 2 other Foreign Office Ministers resigned shortly after theinvasion of the Falkland Islands.

- Later official reviews stated that, although there had been misjudgments within the foreignoffice, no responsibility attached to any individual within the gov.

Departmental error

- Minister is responsible for every action of his department- As AV Dicey expressed it, the responsibility of minister means where used in its strict sense, the

legal responsibility of every minister for every act of the crown in which he takes path.

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- Minister is required to answer questions, supply information and justify his departments policy.- If the department encounter some error, the minister is the one who is supposed to resign for

such misconduct.

- Collapse of Highland Tower (1993)-

However, in Malaysia, Datuk Seri Samy Vellu as the relevant government authorities for theHighland Tower tragedy 15 years ago never resigned instead he blamed that incident as Act of

God.

- This was followed by the 6th December 2008 incident where the Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawiblamed the developers and buyers during the Bukit Antarabangsa landslide disaster happened.

- Conspicuously absent from Abdullahs blame list are the various gov agencies and authoritieswho should be even more culpable in giving approvals or closing an eye to dangerous hillside

developments and totally ignored the lessons of the Highland Towers tragedy.

- Malaysian ministers should not claim that they have no knowledge of all the affairs in theirdepartment and point the fingers to others.

- Crichel Down Affair- In UK, 1954, the Minister of Agriculture, Sri Thomas Dugdale, resigned following an official

inquiry about the approach of the Ministry of Agriculture in disposing of land no longer needed

by the Air Ministry after World War 2.

Policy error

- Minister should resign if there have been serious policy and administrative error in his or herdepartment.

-

UK example : Anthony Eden took office in 1955 but was forced to resign in disgrace on 11

th

Jan57 after an Anglo French invasion of the Suez Canal Zone in an attempt to regain Western

control of the region after Egypts Millitary leader Colonel Abdel-al-Nasser nationalized it.

- The Soviet Union threatened to support Egypt if the fighting escalated, and made nuclearthreats against Britain.

- Had Britain been attacked, then US air bases in England would inevitably have been among thetargets, which would have brought the USA into the conflict and resulted in WW3.

- The US President Dwight D. Eisnehower talked Eden into withdrawing saying that he riskedplunging the world into nuclear holocaust.

- Eden replaced by Harold Macmillan.Conclusion

- Increase the investigatory powers to parliament.- Eg : there should be a clear line drawn up as to what infos are detrimental to the security.- Press willingness to take up such issues.- Ministers should lead by example of the people they represent.

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- Strength of the opposition in parliament (checks and balances)- Eg : access to official info, increase resources of backbenchers and opposition parties.- PM should not abuse powers vested in him.- Public should take the leading role in seeking for accountable, answerable and responsible gov.-

The doctrine of MR is an imperfect tool to enforce responsibility in Parliament but it is notinsignificant.

- The doctrine if practiced in totality, it advocates for an accountable and responsible gov toparliament and the electoral as well.

- This is in line with the spirit of good gov and democracy