The Malaysian Insight

PUTRAJAYA clearly has no understanding of what fairness is, Pakatan Harapan chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad said after the motion to redraw electoral boundaries was passed in Parliament today.

The former prime minister also said Barisan Nasional’s (BN) move to bulldoze through the bill was a form of tyranny.

“The law (the redrawing of electoral boundaries) needs more time to be debated. This law is only for the general election. This is not a move to give the people the right to vote but to take that right away from them.

“This is a form of tyranny. Now we realise the government really has no idea of what fairness means, (they) cheat a lot,” he said after meeting with a group of businessmen, civil servants and activists at the Perdana Leadership Foundation in Putrajaya this evening.

The bill was passed after a bloc vote was called, with the final vote in favour of the current BN government.

The ruling coalition used its majority to ensure the motion was carried through with 129 votes for and 80 votes against.

BN’s 134 seats, the opposition’s 87, and one independent MP make up the 222-strong Dewan Rakyat.

Dr Mahathir also slammed Dewan Rakyat speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia for the duration, a mere 10 minutes, he gave the opposition to debate the bill.

He said it was a waste of time if only 10 minutes were allowed.

“No need, just do whatever. In other countries, the opposition’s opinion will be taken into consideration, but not here.

“Here, the government only does things that they want to do. No amendments, nothing,” he said.

Dr Mahathir added that the redrawing of electoral boundaries also happened during his time when he was the prime minister but the changes were made once in 8 years and it was done in accordance with the federal constitution.

“That was why, at the time, we only had 90 over MPs, but now we have 222 because the number of Malaysians have increased and we need more seats for them.

“But this (redelineation) is not about wanting to add more seats, only to move people from one area to another to get support and to win the general election. It was a hasty move.

“(There was) no debate, no evaluation and the majority was used to do many shameful things,” said Dr Mahathir.

The 14th general election has to be called before August and many predict that Parliament will be dissolved by early April.

Dr Mahathir also said the redelineation was the only chance for BN to reclaim Selangor from the opposition.

“BN wants Selangor back, so it is using all cards to reclaim the state. This shows that tyranny is happening,” he said.

He said the government has no respect for the law by accepting the report as there are still related cases pending in court.

“We should have waited for the court’s decision to avoid subjudice, but this government has no regard for the law,” he added. – March 28, 2018.