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LDP: Ridhuan's 'BM rule' will disqualify most
Published:  May 4, 2015 3:59 PM
Updated: 10:56 AM

Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) president Teo Chee Kang has criticised a suggestion to require prospective election candidates to possess at least a credit in SPM Bahasa Malaysia to qualify to contest.

In a press release today, Teo said this suggestion would result in inequality among Malaysians.

"If a credit in BM in the SPM is made a legal requirement, half of the Malaysian citizens may lose their right to contest in the general elections," said Teo, who leads the BN component party, which holds three seats in the Sabah state assembly.

He said the onus should be on the political parties themselves to impose stringent conditions on the selection of candidates.

"At the end of the day, the people will decide whether someone is fit to be their representative," he added.

Suggestion made by Ridhuan Tee

The Election Commission (EC) is currently mulling a suggestion by former National Defence University lecturer Ridhuah Tee Abdullah.

Ridhuan said in his Sinar Harian column on April 27 that poor command of Bahasa Malaysia in Parliament and state assemblies made the august Houses look like " pasar malam (night markets)".

Teo said that Ridhuan Tee had failed to appreciate the fact that English is freely used in the Sabah and Sarawak state legislatures, in accordance with the respective Standing Orders.

"Being a Muslim convert, airing such a proposal reflects that Tee himself is an 'ultra kiasu ', who is always in constant fear that he may not be accepted by the Muslim community," he said.

S'wak CM will be in a bind

In KUCHING, Sarawak PKR vice chairperson See Chee How reporters that chief minister Adenan Satem and his entire state cabinet would not qualify to contest in elections if the rule was put in place.

The Malay Mail Online quoted him saying that he had checked the educational backgrounds of the nine cabinet members and found that they had not sat for the Malay-language papers during their Senior Cambridge Examination (SCE) and the Higher School Certificate (HSC).

The examinations are equivalent to SPM and STPM respectively, and according to See, Bahasa Malaysia was not a compulsory subject in SCE and HSC examinations during the 1950's and the 1960's.

"Therefore, the proposal is ridiculous and impractical to be implemented in Sarawak," he was quoted as saying.

See, who is also a practising lawyer, said Article 24 Clause 8 of the Sarawak Constitution also allows for members to address the legislative assembly in any native language, including Malay, Iban and Bidayuh.

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