Najib’s 1Malaysia phony, cries Kit Siang
(Free Malaysia Today) – On the eve of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s first anniversary in office, opposition stalwart Lim Kit Siang has dismissed the premier’s ‘1Malaysia’ brainchild as phony.
According to the veteran politician, the ‘fake’ concept cannot stand scrutiny.
Lim believes this is the reason why the Barisan Nasional government is against his proposal to form a parliamentary select committee on the 1Malaysia Government Transformation Programme (GTP) Roadmap.
He said the government should have instead welcomed parliamentary recognition and support for the programme.
Lim also took Deputy Speaker Wan Junaidi Jaafar to task for the latter’s arbitrary last-minute rejection of his amendment to the motion of thanks for the royal address late last night.
The deputy speaker’s action had prompted a walkout by Pakatan Rakyat MPs.
“It was not only a black-letter day for parliamentary democracy but also for Najib’s 1Malaysia concept,” he said.
Lim said he moved the amendment motion for the establishment of the select committee to monitor and report on the GTP’s progress and development two weeks ago on March 18. It was seconded by PAS MP for Kuala Krai Dr Mohd Hatta Ramli and accepted by the chair.
“It is against all parliamentary precedents and practices for the amendment motion, which had been properly moved, seconded and accepted two weeks ago, to be suddenly rejected at the last-minute just before voting on the specious ground that it had nothing to do with the royal address,” he said.
“If so, why was the amendment to the motion accepted for two weeks? Why did it take the chair two weeks to discover that it had nothing to do with the royal address?” he asked.
The Ipoh Timur MP explained that the debate on the royal address is a general policy debate of the government-of-the-day, and therefore the ruling was nothing short of a mystery.
Lim said it defies all imagination that it could be claimed that the proposed establishment of a select committee on the GTP had nothing to do with government policies and programmes.
“Is anyone suggesting that the GTP is an illicit and illegitimate government programme – making Koh Tsu Koon (who oversees the GTP) and illicit and illegitimate minister?” he asked.
