An institutional reforms advocacy group has welcomed a proposal by Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to introduce a special bill to prevent the government from being overthrown in the middle of a Parliament term.
Project - Stability and Accountability for Malaysia (Projek Sama), thus, urged the government to enact a Fixed-Term Parliament Act (FTPA) in the upcoming parliamentary session in March.
“FTPA is both a manifesto promise of Pakatan Harapan in GE15 and one of the reforms called for by NGOs and 52 individuals in the 2024 New Year message, initiated by Projek Sama.
“An FTPA will constrain the prime minister’s power in seeking royal consent for an early dissolution of Parliament but leave completely untouched the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s power under Articles 40(2)(b) and 43(4) to withhold his consent.
“The king can still reject any request for early dissolution while the PM has to share the power to make such a request with fellow parliamentarians. This makes early elections harder,” it said in a statement today.
When proposing the special bill yesterday, Zahid said it was to prevent past situations from recurring.
“I recommend that a bill be tabled to mandate a government remain until the end of the term if it is formed by a dominant political party or a combination of dominant parties and has the Agong’s consent.
“Otherwise, we will experience the same thing as before, and that is not good for the country and its people,” he said.
The BN chairperson was believed to be referring to the Sheraton Move in 2020.
It was also unclear if Zahid was proposing an FTPA model.
‘Start public consultation now’
Meanwhile, Projek Sama called on the government to start public consultation now for an FTPA bill to be tabled and passed in the upcoming parliamentary sitting which will commence on Feb 26.
Elaborating on the act, it said the Parliament must serve its full term of five years unless either of these circumstances occur - the prime minister has lost the confidence of Parliament or two-thirds or more of Parliament passed a resolution to call for an early dissolution.
“With that, the prime minister cannot, at his whim and fancy, seek to dissolve the Parliament before its full term, unless he loses the power. The decision to seek royal consent must lie within the House to minimise political adventurism, and to assure an inclusive and stable parliamentary democracy.
“A key feature of an FTPA is that it can stop any move that hopes to overthrow a sitting government by collecting statutory declarations (SDs) from parliamentarians. An FTPA has to define what constitutes a loss of confidence.
“The FTPA can limit ‘loss of confidence’ as the passing of a no-confidence motion, the defeat of a confidence motion, and the defeat of a budget (supply Bill) in the second or third reading.”
The group added that the abuse of SDs, by using them as tools of destabilisation, is an exploitation of the Federal Constitution’s silence in Article 43 on the method of ascertaining Parliament’s confidence or loss of confidence in the government.
Any formation or dismissal of government, it said, should happen by way of confidence and supply votes on the floor of the Dewan Rakyat where MPs can cast their votes openly.
“This is where an FTPA can close this gap without contradicting or the need to amend the Federal Constitution.
“With an FTPA, the government will not be distracted by operations like the Dubai Move. Not just the government - civil society, businesses, and every Malaysian can plan their work and events for the next four years, if the 15th Parliament will dissolve automatically on Dec 18, 2027, and GE16 can be expected to take place around February 2028.
“Fixed electoral calendars are not only a feature in presidential and semi-presidential democracies like Indonesia and Taiwan, but are also increasingly popular in parliamentary democracies such as Norway, Sweden, and states in Australia,” it stressed.
‘Sign MOU’
Meanwhile, election watchdog Bersih echoed Projek Sama’s sentiments and reiterated its calls for Putrajaya to enact the FTPA to stabilise the country’s politics.
However, Bersih stressed that the enactment of the act needs to be followed with the enactment of a Constituency Development Fund Act, which is fair to both government and opposition MPs.
“This is to ensure that the rights and justice for all MPs are guaranteed by law,” said the Bersih steering committee in a statement.
On the enactment of the FTPA, Bersih called on political blocs to move forward with work that benefits the people and stop political games from harming the future of the country.
“Therefore, the time has come for the government and the opposition to come together to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on political reforms for the benefit of the people.
“This MOU was signed during Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s tenure as the prime minister after urges from Bersih, which later enabled the enactment of the anti-hopping law.
“This effort is pertinent for the progress of the country and the improvement of the existing political system, which will definitely benefit all parties.
“Thus, Bersih is ready to act as an intermediary between the government and the opposition to ensure that it is successful,” it said. - Mkini
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