LETTERS: Between May 2018 and February this year, the country has seen two changes of governments.
First, at the 14th General Election, the Barisan Nasional (BN) government, led by Datuk Seri Najib Razak, lost and gave way to the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad became prime minister for the second time.
Second, earlier this year, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who headed Perikatan Nasional (PN), wrested power from the PH government to form a new government and became its new prime minister. One would have thought then the country's foreign policy would be undergoing some major changes, especially with Dr Mahathir at the helm of the government.
The same was to be expected from Muhyiddin, who had served under Najib in the former BN government. As it turned out, only Dr Mahathir got back into form quickly by engaging the Japanese into agreeing on new deals and new loans for Malaysia. Deals which were agreed to earlier with China and Singapore had to be renegotiated.
Muhyiddin, who came into power in March, soon got himself involved with establishing initiatives to revive the country's economy and pushed for the country to remain on top of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Over less than two years, the following foreign policy issues have been taken up that, although, these could be cited as exercises in content-creation at one level, these could set the country, at the very least, to see changes in foreign policy directions.
There were 22 such issues grouped into three categories.
Firstly, under the category of "Malaysia Facing the World", we could include the following: Accession to the Rome Statute; Refugees rights; Human rights for Muslims converting to other religions; Gender equality and LGBT Rights; Mandatory death sentence for drug trafficking; Corruption Index; legal abortion access for vulnerable groups; extradition for Zakir Naik.
In the second category, "Malaysia's Bilateral, Regional and Multilateral Interests", we could include the following: Cultural ownership in Malaysia-Indonesia relations; Malaysia-Singapore relations and building a bridge; Malaysia-Philippines relations and the Sabah claim; Timor Leste as Asean's 11th member; Malaysia-China relations and Beting Patinggi Al; Illegal fishing in Malaysia's maritime water; Malaysia-Europe relations and Malaysian palm oil exports; exports of recycled waste by Europe to Malaysia.
In the final category, "Malaysia and Content Creation", we have the following: Uighur detention camp in China and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation; the Yemen crisis - Malaysia and the Arab Coalition; Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the annexation of the West Bank; deforestation in Malaysia and global climate change; Racial integration and Bumiputera rights; Political stability, economic growth and Malaysia's future.
In evaluating the country's foreign policy preceding the foregoing, we begin by analysing the "Change in Continuity" foreign policy framework that was launched by the PH government in September 2018. One way to look at this development is to regard it as being an act meant to keep pace with developments in the domestic political scene and the economy as well as in global trends.
It could also be advanced that the action was adopted as part of a content creation exercise to build a new narrative of foreign policy for the country a la the PH government's election manifesto. Hence the need to come up with a new framework based on introducing the "so-called" change but ensuring it remains within the context of continuity in the management and decision-making realm of the country's foreign policy since 1957.
The above however merits a big-picture view that can build upon the previous attempts at content-creation by previous governments as follows: Foreign policy in the formative years from Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, Tun Hussein Onn, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi; the Mahathir paradigm in foreign policy and the D-I-Y (Do-It-Yourself) foreign policy of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Clearly, in the interim, little has changed in the country's foreign policy other than what had occurred at least during the period of the PH government.
DR AZHARI KARIM
Former ambassador, Kuala Lumpur
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times