GAYA SEORANG PEMIMPIN MUDA
30-day rehabilitation of democracy — Nurul Izzah Anwar
DEC 14 — On 26th October 2010, I had submitted an official letter to the YAB Prime Minister regarding suggestions for action to rehabilitate democracy within 30 days based on his statement at the recent 2010 UMNO General Assembly.
As a gentle reminder, the Prime Minister in his capacity as UMNO President made a statement which said that the position of the Malays as stated in Article 153 is ‘firmly secured’ in the federal
constitution and irrespective of whoever acquires two-thirds majority in Parliament no change can happen without the consent of their majesties the Malay Rulers.
Thus, the statement by our Prime Minister has opened up avenues to rehabilitate democracy via the repeal of anti-democratic laws such as the ISA, UUCA, PPPA and the Sedition Act including revoking the declarations of emergency as they are obsolete at this juncture.
I wish to categorically state that I would in no way wish to undermine the special position of the Malays, and in face I give my unequivocal support not just for this allocation, but also for all allocations as stipulated by the Federal Constitution.
On the other hand, what I am calling into question is the manner of execution, specifically the execution of the New Economic Policy (NEP) which clearly does not benefit the majority of the Malays, as witnessed in the statement made by the UMNO Youth Chief at the same General Assembly, that 80 per cent of rural Malays are still poor.
And so, I am only fulfilling my duties and responsibilities as a Member of Parliament, a Malaysian citizen, and loyal subject to their majesties the Malay Rulers by submitting the first letter I mentioned earlier.
It is unfortunate that till this moment I have received no word from the Prime Minister on this matter, thereby requiring me to submit a second letter as I sincerely believe that the democracy practised in this country may be rehabilitated.
In this second letter, I suggest to the Prime Minister that if he puts forward a motion for the DEMOCRACY REHABILITATION ACT in this parliamentary session that it will receive bipartisan support and indeed this Act will be made complete and passed even if this session need be extended so as to realise this solemn aim.
In my view, the Democracy Rehabilitation Act is timely, especially as the Prime Minister has announced that the policy of affirmative action which forms the basis of Article 153 and the NEP has been updated to a needs-based policy instead of a race-based policy within the framework of the New Economic Model (NEM). This means that such a policy can be made better and enhanced for the purposes of our Nation’s economic progress.
I also believe that the Democracy Rehabilitation Act will be a catalyst and generates a new wave of development for the Nation that completes the National Transformation Agenda and NEM by giving a clear signal to the entire world that our Nation is truly independent and democratic.
Lastly, I implore for our Prime Minister to create national history whereby this Democracy Rehabilitation Act will strengthen the foundations of unity and will truly build a Malaysian nation founded on the ‘Supremacy of the Constitution’, or as recorded in our Rukun Negara, the ‘Exaltedness of the Constitution’ henceforth becomes a reality.
* Nurul Izzah Anwar is the Lembah Pantai MP.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication. The Malaysian Insider does not endorse the view unless specified.
No comments:
Post a Comment