Once you stood for electoral reform, not gerrymandering - DAP MP to PAS
DAP's Kluang MP, Wong Shu Qi, reminded PAS that when the Islamic party was part of the opposition, it stood firmly for electoral reform.
Yet, it's now talking about redrawing boundaries to favour its Malay-Muslim agenda...
DAP's Kluang MP, Wong Shu Qi, reminded PAS that when the Islamic party was part of the opposition, it stood firmly for electoral reform.
Yet, it's now talking about redrawing boundaries to favour its Malay-Muslim agenda.
Wong (photo, above) said PAS was a political party that stood for electoral reform not too long ago.
"They were once the founding members of Bersih and together with fellow Malaysians, they demanded for a free and fair election.
"Its president, Abdul Hadi Awang, wore a yellow shirt, walked with other political leaders, civil society and tens of thousands of Malaysians to make these demands.
"But today, PAS's hypocrisy is now being exposed. When they were in opposition, they wanted a free and fair election. Now that they are in government, they want to manipulate the electoral system to stay in power," said Wong in a statement today.
On Tuesday, PAS Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Khairuddin Aman Razali declared PAS' objective to win a two-thirds majority in the next general election, with the help of its allies, and redraw election boundaries in a way that will benefit Malays and Muslims.
He said the three Malay parties - PAS, Bersatu and Umno - will have to work together to achieve this goal.
"There are long-term (needs) that require us to win the next general election with a two-thirds majority. (Upon achieving this), the electoral boundaries need to be changed to benefit Muslims.
"We also need to increase the number of parliamentary seats in Malay-majority areas," Khairuddin wrote on Facebook.
Wong claimed that PAS, especially Khairuddin, have shown themselves to be disrespectful of the law.
"I sincerely hope that PAS, being a party in government today, can at least review the report tabled by the Special Select Committee on Electoral Reform in 2012.
"The Special Select Committee on Electoral Reform was formed in 2011 after the Bersih 2.0 rally. The committee consisted of both government and opposition members of parliament," said the Kluang MP.
"The report made many suggestions to improve our electoral system and the election practice, including the introduction of indelible ink, regulating political financing, a fair redelineation, strengthening the Election Commission and researching a new electoral system.
"Unfortunately, most people remember only the indelible ink which was implemented right away in the 2013 General Election. Sadly, the report was set aside after that, and nothing much was done until when Pakatan Harapan took over in 2018," she said.
Wong said that the Harapan government gave independence to the Election Commission and set up an Electoral Reform Committee with the mandate to review our current first-past-the-post election system, voters education, political financing and more.
"After the fall of Harapan, the Perikatan Nasional government once again abandoned efforts for electoral reform," she claimed.
"What Khairuddin did was to turn the clock backwards, reversing efforts to improve democracy in this country.
"It is normal for a political party to want to win more seats in an election.
"However, we must win in a fair fight - not by manipulating the election to benefit certain parties, and definitely not by going against the spirit of the Federal Constitution of one-man-one-vote and fair representation by institutionalising racism into our electoral system," she said.
Based on Article 113(2)(ii) of the Federal Constitution, Parliament can pass new election boundaries when they are due without the need of a two-thirds approval by the Dewan Rakyat.
Electoral boundaries for Sarawak cannot be changed until 2023, followed by Sabah in 2025 and Peninsular Malaysia in 2026.
Khairuddin's suggestion that a two-thirds majority was needed possibly signalled that PAS has the intention to amend the Federal Constitution.
Parliamentary seats such as Bangi, Subang and Damansara, where victorious MPs Ong Kian Ming, Wong Chen and Tony Pua garnered more than 100,000 votes each in scoring sweeping majorities, are significantly larger than seats in rural Malay-majority areas such as Arau in Perlis, which has less than 40,000 voters casting ballots in GE14.
"Khairuddin is a government minister. His statements carry weight and have consequences.
"Instead of trying to improve our democracy, he is now openly promoting the idea of gerrymandering, using race and religion to manipulate the election.
"His action is not only a betrayal to the people who trusted PAS since its Bersih days but also to all Malaysians in general," she said.
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