Hard to fulfil manifesto pledges without two-thirds majority, says PM

Delay in setting up the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission may affect the nation’s Transparency International Corruption Perception Index ranking for this year.

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government is facing some difficulty fulfilling its election manifesto pledges that required amendments to the law because it does not command a two-thirds majority in Parliament.

“Yes, we have done much of what we promised in the manifesto but with regard to the amendment or abolition of any law which relates to the constitution, it needs two-thirds’ approval in the Dewan Rakyat.

“So this is our problem. It is not that we don’t want to do it but to change the law, sometimes we have to refer to the Constitution,” he told a media conference at the Chinese New Year open house at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall today.

Mahathir was responding to questions on pledges in PH’s manifesto yet to be implemented, including the establishment of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC), a delay that may affect the nation’s Transparency International Corruption Perception Index (CPI) ranking for this year.

Mahathir said the establishment of IPCMC was not easy to implement.

He also said the government’s efforts to abolish the mandatory death sentence, which is also a PH manifesto pledge, had been rejected by some quarters.

“While we want to remove the death penalty, there are people who are objecting to this because their family members have been killed and so on.

“So we can’t do this easily. It takes time.” - FMT