KUCHING: PAS Shah Alam MP Khalid Nordin confirmed that Pakatan Rakyat’s proposal for re-delineating constituencies to reflect proportional representation instead of first-past-the-post is still very much on the table.
He said this in response to a question from a member of the public during a DAP dialogue with the Christian community here last night.
The man concerned wanted to know whether Pakatan was still considering the proposal.
The re-delineation of constituencies is among the pledges in the Common Policy Framework that Pakatan unveiled at its inaugral national convention in December 2009.
The first-past-the-post system refers to a candidate winning an election by garnering the most votes though not necessarily the highest percentage of votes.
The proportional representation system means that the percentage of votes won by a party would translate into the same percentage of that party’s representation in Parliament. This system places priority on the party rather than the candidate.
Khalid, however, clarified that while the coalition is still discussing it, they would not be putting it on the frontline for now to avoid confusion among the voters.
“There have been loads of questions on the overall election system,” he told the crowd.
“The proposal for proportional representation is meant to create a fairer system at the federal level first.
“So yes we’re still talking about it but we want to keep it in the background to avoid confusion. What we want right now is for people to use the current system to make the necessary changes.
“Trying to introduce a new system now would only sideline us from the main issue of getting rid of BN.”
Idris Jala is not superman
The dialogue also saw a good word being put in for Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Idris Jala, by Khalid and DAP Seputeh MP Teresa Kok.
The Sarawak Christians had watched with interest Jala’s conduct during the controversial Al-Kitab issue and now pressed the two MPs for their take on his role in Putrajaya.
“He is a good man and a pious Christian,” Kok replied.
“And he made a very smart move in announcing that he will not contest nor campaign in the Sarawak election. But if you put a good man in a corrupt system he, too, will collapse.”
In agreeing with Kok, Khalid added that Jala alone would not be enough to change the current political culture in the government.
“Idris is not superman,” he said to chuckles from the crowd.
“Even superman won’t be able to change the BN government considering the way it is today. But you are able to change your government on April 16,” he said. - FMT
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