PM chided for bowing to DPM

Nik Nazmi demands to know why Muhyiddin appears to be dictating the date of the next general election.

PETALING JAYA: PKR has flayed Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak for appearing to bow to his deputy, Muhyiddin Yassin, in a recent statement that the Parliamentary Select Commmittee (PSC) on electoral reforms would have no bearing on Parliament’s dissolution.

When he unveiled the formation of the PSC last week, Najib stressed that its purpose was to put to rest suspicions of the government manipulating the country’s electoral system.

But Muhyiddin once again publicly contradicted Najib by stating that the country’s elections were never flawed and that the PSC is merely meant to fine-tune the existing system.

Two days later, and notably after the Umno supreme council meeting, Najib announced that the general election could be held anytime, thus sparking speculation that he had succumbed to pressure from his deputy.

PKR director of communications, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, slammed Najib’s flip-flop as reflective of his and Umno-BN’s insincerity in ensuring clean and fair elections.

“Who is Muhyiddin to decide on when the elections will be held?” he asked. “Any student of law and Malaysian Constitution would know that the dissolution of Parliament is subject to His Majesty’s consent acting on the advice of the prime minister.”

“Why then should the prime minister be submitting to his deputy in this matter? We used to joke that it was Rosmah (Mansor) who was running the country but now it looks like it is actually Muhyiddin.”

Nik Nazmi added that the initial hope that Najib would finally show leadership and make the PSC his legacy to Malaysia’s democracy has now been dashed.

The Seri Setia state assemblyman also touched on the subject of the PSC being chaired by a member of the opposition.

Government business

Pakatan Rakyat has insisted that an opposition member lead the committee, but this demand was rejected outright by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Nazri Aziz.

Nik Nazmi, however, pointed out that the practice of appointing Select Committees originates from the Westminster system of parliamentary governance.

The tradition, he said, dictates that the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that holds the government business to account is chaired by an opposition MP.

“This is not the exclusive practice of developed countries alone,” Nik Nazmi said. “India, for instance, has appointed opposition MPs to chair its PAC since 1967.”

He reminded the media that the Selangor government led the way in this regard by appointing an opposition state assembyman in 2010.

“The leader of the opposition at the time, Dr Khir Toyo, agreed to this at a meeting with the Speaker of the State Legislative Assembly, Teng Chang Khim, before the July 2010 sitting but the motion was then rejected by BN,” he said.

“I’m not privy to why BN changed its mind but we hope that the prime minister will show leadership and commitment to transforming Malaysia’s democracy by reciprocating this gesture.”