Gerakan Youth today urged Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud to consider resigning only after June 2014, to avoid triggering another costly by-election.

However, Gerakan Youth chief Tan Keng Liang said, this would depend on the decision of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

“If the Agong wishes to appoint Taib ( left, in picture ) into a position which requires him to resign as chief minister before June, then that is another matter,” Tan said when contacted.

He said this following an announcement by PBB that it would nominate Taib to be Sarawak governor should the longest-serving CM step down.

Yesterday, Sarawak BN said Taib indicated that he would resign as chief minister by the end of this month - a move that could trigger a by-election in the state constituency of Balingian.

However, according to the state constitution, there will be no by-election if there is a casual vacancy within two years of the expiry of the state legislative assembly term.

The current term of the Sarawak state legislative assembly expires on June 20, 2016.

“It is only a matter of a few months,” said Tan, who had earlier submited a memorandum on a related matter at the Election Commission (EC) headquarters in Putrajaya today.

The memorandum, accepted by EC public relations officer Sabri Said, urges changes to the law in order to more severely punish the willful triggering of by-elections through resignations.

'PKR abusing democratic process'

Tan ( left ) said this followed what the youth wing sees as an abuse of the democratic process by PKR, which has several times triggered by-elections through resignations since 2008.

“They did so in Permatang Pauh in 2008, again in Penanti in 2009 and now in Kajang,” he said.

“Each by-election costs an average of RM2 million so PKR has incurred a cost of RM6 million in government expenditure.”

Therefore, Gerakan Youth proposed that:

  • A fine of RM100,000 and RM200,000 be charged respectively if an assemblyperson or parliamentarian vacates his/her seat for reasons other than death, illness or other reasons that make him/her unfit to serve; and

 

  • A ban of five years be imposed on the political party from which the representative had resigned for reasons not listed above. (However, this does not extend to other political parties from the same coalition.)
    • At present, the five-year ban only applies to the individual who vacated the seat.

    Tan said the amendments could be made to Article 46(6) of the Federal Constitution or in state constitutions, such as Article 64(5) of the Selangor constitution, as well as the Election Act 1958.