PUTRAJAYA clearly has no understanding of what fairness is, Pakatan Harapan chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad said after the motion to redraw electoral boundaries was passed in Parliament today.
The former prime minister also said Barisan Nasional’s (BN) move to bulldoze through the bill was a form of tyranny.
“The law (the redrawing of electoral boundaries) needs more time to be debated. This law is only for the general election. This is not a move to give the people the right to vote but to take that right away from them.
The bill was passed after a bloc vote was called, with the final vote in favour of the current BN government.
The ruling coalition used its majority to ensure the motion was carried through with 129 votes for and 80 votes against.
BN’s 134 seats, the opposition’s 87, and one independent MP make up the 222-strong Dewan Rakyat.
Dr Mahathir also slammed Dewan Rakyat speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia for the duration, a mere 10 minutes, he gave the opposition to debate the bill.
He said it was a waste of time if only 10 minutes were allowed.
“No need, just do whatever. In other countries, the opposition’s opinion will be taken into consideration, but not here.
“Here, the government only does things that they want to do. No amendments, nothing,” he said.
Dr Mahathir added that the redrawing of electoral boundaries also happened during his time when he was the prime minister but the changes were made once in 8 years and it was done in accordance with the federal constitution.
“That was why, at the time, we only had 90 over MPs, but now we have 222 because the number of Malaysians have increased and we need more seats for them.
“But this (redelineation) is not about wanting to add more seats, only to move people from one area to another to get support and to win the general election. It was a hasty move.
The 14th general election has to be called before August and many predict that Parliament will be dissolved by early April.
Dr Mahathir also said the redelineation was the only chance for BN to reclaim Selangor from the opposition.
“BN wants Selangor back, so it is using all cards to reclaim the state. This shows that tyranny is happening,” he said.
He said the government has no respect for the law by accepting the report as there are still related cases pending in court.
“We should have waited for the court’s decision to avoid subjudice, but this government has no regard for the law,” he added. – March 28, 2018.
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Comments
Posted 6 years ago by MELVILLE JAYATHISSA · Reply
Posted 6 years ago by MELVILLE JAYATHISSA · Reply
The more Dr. Mahathir speaks on why being legal alone is not enough, but it must also be fair to be right, the more his personal prestige decreases and the more does pakatan lose the heart and minds of the people.
Dr Mahathir afterall, is like the founder of the "if it islegal, even if it is not fair, it is right" school of thought. Of course he did not use the " if it is legal, it is right" philosophy to support his own interest in such a flagrant and blatant manner, and one can even say that Dr Mahathir at least used the philosophy speed up the modernisation of Malaysia, but the fact remains that he is still the founding father of the "if its legal, it is right even if it is unfair" school of thought in malaysia, and the more you go against your own self, the more gravitas and prestige will you and everything you represent lose.
Its perhaps best he withdraws from this particular dispute less he becomes the cause of his own side's weakening.
Posted 6 years ago by Nehru Sathiamoorthy · Reply
Posted 6 years ago by IT Scheiss · Reply