Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today that he is “confused” whether his administration should slow down or speed up fulfilling its election promises.
Mahathir said this in response to several lawmakers calling for the bill to amend Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution and restore the status of Sabah and Sarawak to be first referred to a parliamentary select committee.
“It is almost one year since we took over the government, and a lot of people ask why are we not doing this thing, that thing?
“When we do it fast, they say we should slow down. So we are very confused about whether we should slow down or not.
“Can we slow down? Or should we hasten the process?” he asked in a press conference in Parliament today.
The Federal Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2019 was defeated at the second reading stage yesterday after failing to receive a two-thirds majority vote in the Dewan Rakyat.
The bill sought to restore Article 1(2) to its wording as of 1963, which is touted to recognise the status of Sabah and Sarawak each being equal to Malayan states as a whole.
Despite 138 MPs voting for the bill and zero against, Putrajaya was still short of 10 votes to pass its first attempt to amend the constitution, as 59 lawmakers abstained from voting.
The bill was rejected after seven hours of debate by 46 lawmakers.
Gabungan Parti Sarawak’s (GPS) Santubong MP Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar had mooted referring the bill to a parliamentary select committee earlier in the debate.
A total of 136 MPs turned down his motion, while only 60 voted for it.
In his winding up of debate at the policy stage, Mahathir had said there was no need to refer the bill to a select committee. - Mkini
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