Fixed-term govt: Sarawak premier warns against ruling through coercion
Sarawak Premier Abang Johari Openg has expressed reservations at a proposal to legislate a fixed term for the government.
This is as freedom of choice is a constitutional right, he said.
“I don’t know the background of whether such a law can be implemented – I would leave that to the legal experts because our Federal Constitution states the freedom of choice.
“Meaning we cannot use coercion, but we can use...
Sarawak Premier Abang Johari Openg has expressed reservations at a proposal to legislate a fixed term for the government.
This is as freedom of choice is a constitutional right, he said.
“I don’t know the background of whether such a law can be implemented – I would leave that to the legal experts because our Federal Constitution states the freedom of choice.
“Meaning we cannot use coercion, but we can use certain rules to monitor the political situation because democracy is based on the people’s freedom of choice," he was quoted as saying by Borneo Post.
He said this when asked to comment on Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's suggestion that a bill be introduced to ensure that the government lasts for a full term.
Zahid's suggestion has since been interpreted by others, including Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said, as referring to a Fixed-Term Parliament Act (FPTA).
An FPTA is meant to prevent a prime minister from dissolving Parliament at a whim so that the legislature serves out a full term.
Reform advocacy group Project Stability and Accountability for Malaysia (Projek Sama) opined that an FTPA can also prevent attempts to overthrow a sitting government through statutory declarations (SDs) forcing conspirators to move through Parliament.
Sungai Petani MP Taufiq Johari argued that a prime minister deposed through a confidence vote should, however, be replaced by another candidate from within the ruling coalition.
Talk of the FTPA surfaced after persistent rumours that the opposition was planning to oust the government through SDs.
Abang Johari reiterated today that his GPS coalition was against any such attempts.
“For GPS, we want stability at the national level.
“There were ‘Dubai Move’, ‘London Move’, what other ‘Move Move’ – all of this must stop; we must focus on restoring our economy," he said.
