MEWAJARKAN PEMUSATAN KUASA: NARATIF PERPADUAN DAN PEMBANGUNAN DALAM FEDERALISME MALAYSIA
JUSTIFYING CENTRALIZATION OF POWER: THE NARRATIVE OF UNITY AND DEVELOPMENT IN MALAYSIAN FEDERALISM
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55197/qjssh.v7i4.1292Keywords:
autonomi negeri, federalisme Malaysia, keseragaman pembangunan, pemusatan kuasa, perpaduan nasionalAbstract
Sistem politik persekutuan di Malaysia merupakan antara yang paling terpusat di dunia. Artikel ini membincangkan bagaimana elit pemerintah Malaysia memanfaatkan naratif perpaduan nasional dan keseragaman pembangunan sebagai rasionalisasi utama bagi mengukuhkan bidang kuasa kerajaan persekutuan. Berpandukan analisis kualitatif terhadap dokumen sejarah, dasar rasmi dan kajian terdahulu, artikel ini menelusuri evolusi pemusatan kuasa dalam sistem federalisme Malaysia sejak kemerdekaan hingga era kontemporari. Sorotan literatur menunjukkan bahawa kajian federalisme di Malaysia masih kurang meneliti dimensi naratif ideologi sebagai mekanisme legitimasi kuasa dalam korpus kajian sedia ada. Kajian ini berhujah bahawa wacana perpaduan dan pembangunan seimbang sering digunakan untuk mewajarkan penumpuan kuasa di peringkat pusat. Dengan menjadikan Malaysia sebagai kajian kes, dapatan menunjukkan bahawa slogan perpaduan dalam konteks masyarakat multietnik telah dimanipulasi bagi mengabsahkan pengukuhan kuasa pusat serta pembatasan autonomi negeri demi kestabilan nasional. Pada masa yang sama, matlamat pembangunan seragam antara negeri digunakan untuk menghalalkan penguasaan kerajaan persekutuan terhadap aspek kewangan dan perancangan pembangunan atas dasar keadilan sosial serta kecekapan pentadbiran. Artikel ini membuktikan bahawa naratif tersebut berfungsi sebagai instrumen penting bagi pemerintah mengekalkan dominasi politik, yang akhirnya berupaya menjejaskan prinsip asas federalisme seperti autonomi negeri dan keseimbangan kuasa antara pusat dan negeri.
Malaysia’s federal political system is considered one of the most centralized in the world. This article discusses how Malaysia’s ruling elites have utilized the narratives of national unity and uniform development as primary justifications for strengthening the authority of the federal government. Based on a qualitative analysis of historical documents, official policies, and previous studies, the article traces the evolution of power centralization within Malaysia’s federal system from independence to the contemporary era. The literature review indicates that studies on federalism in Malaysia have paid limited attention to the ideological narrative dimension as a mechanism for legitimizing power within the existing body of scholarship. This study argues that discourses of unity and balanced development have frequently been employed to justify the concentration of power at the central level. Using Malaysia as a case study, the findings demonstrate that the slogan of unity in the context of a multiethnic society has been manipulated to legitimize the strengthening of central authority and the restriction of state autonomy in the name of national stability. At the same time, the objective of uniform development among states has been used to justify federal control over finance and development planning on the grounds of social justice and administrative efficiency. This article demonstrates that such narratives function as important instruments for the ruling elites to maintain political dominance, ultimately undermining fundamental principles of federalism such as state autonomy and the balance of power between the federal and state governments.
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