Pakatan leaders slam Zaid for "unjustified" BN support comments

Malaysia Chronicle 

Pakatan Rakyat leaders ticked off FT PKR chief Zaid Ibrahim for saying their coalition was immature in not supporting Prime Minister Najib Razak in three legislative bills, accusing him of hastiness in making the comments.

According to Kota Raja MP Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud, Zaid’s comments were unfair and did not take into account the “shoddy way” in which Parliament was being run, where bills were often given to lawmakers only at the last minute without any inter-coalition discussion or caucuses being held.

PAS's Dr Siti

“I am surprised at his statement which is untrue. On many bills and especially with regard to family law, we always discuss and get briefings from specialist NGOs, who go through with us so that the rights of all stakeholders are considered and taken care of. Then only, we can decide whether to support or not,” Kota Raja MP Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud told Malaysia Chronicle. 

“His comments also seem to be hasty and I don’t why he made them, but Pakatan MPs will always support bills that are good for the nation. Sometimes, we may insist on additional clauses because we believe they are needed as check-and-balance mechanisms. We are not saying we are perfect but we never outright reject for the sake of politicking, which is what he is suggesting.”

What Zaid didn't say 

At a speech on national unity in Batu Pahat on Wednesday, Zaid had expressed disappointment that Pakatan lawmakers kept silent when the Najib Administration wanted to present three bills to resolve sensitive issues in July 2009. The three bills were the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976, the Administration of Islamic Law Act 1993, and the Islamic Family Law Act 1984.

“I believe the opposition must support the government when it is good for the people,” Malaysian Insiderreported him as saying. “This is where PR and BN must show some political maturity.”

DAP's Nga

Taiping MP Nga Kor Ming agreed with Dr Siti that current parliamentary processes were unfriendly to opposition lawmakers and needed urgent reform.

He said laws needed to be studied with care, and in most of parts of the democratic world, parliamentary sub-committees with all sides of the political divide taking part in discussions were the norm before a bill is tabled..

“Zaid’s comments are totally unjustified. We will always support any bill that is beneficial to the people not only because of Pakatan but as responsible MPs in our own rights. Look at the MACC bill and how we tried our best to insist on clauses that can really empower an independent MACC,” Kor Ming told Malaysia Chronicle.

“If we don’t study or research in reasonable detail, we should not simply support a bill. There may be long-term implications or even negative repercussions. What Zaid should really point out is what Dr Siti has said - our parliamentary procedures are archaic, unfair and sorely in need of reform. It is too one sided, does not bother to recognize input from opposition politicians and makes a mockery of our debates.”