The chairperson of the parliamentary select committee (PSC) on electoral reform, Dr Maximus Ongkili, is sad that the committee’s final report was passed without debate at the Dewan Rakyat due to a minority report issue brought up by the opposition.

He said the final report was passed too fast and was not commensurate with the time and energy spent by those involved, including three opposition members of Parliament (MPs), in the committee.

“I’m sad because a lot of time was spent and a lot of work was done for this report. Not only me, but all members have spent time all the way until the last meeting and agreeing to 82 percent of the 22 recommendations, but (some) played the game of politics towards the end.

“So, I leave to the public and the members of Parliament to judge the contents of the report,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby after Dewan Rakyat speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia called for a vote on the report without debate following the war of words between the backbenchers and opposition MPs.

Ongkili, however, said he also believed that the entire contents of the report would also be unanimously passed if debated, just like its interim report passed on Dec 1 last year.

- Bernama