BN leaders: Retain consensus system
Leaders from MCA and MIC want the existing system to be maintained while one from PPP stresses that the coalition needs to change its system to a workable one.
Alyaa Azhar, FMT
Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders gave mixed views over the proposal to change the current system in making decisions from a consensus agreement to a simple majority vote.
MIC central working committee (CWC) member S Murugesan disagreed with the proposal, saying that even to pass the proposal, it would require a consensus beforehand.
“The basis of BN is that all parties must agree with a particular decision. Therefore, the current system must be maintained,” he said.
He elaborated, saying that each component party is there for a reason.
“If we take away the consensus system, the party that represents a certain community would not be able to be represented in certain decisions.
“If we pass something that’s not agreeable to Sabah and Sarawak then won’t it be as if others are making the decision for them? This is not the spirit of which BN was formed,” he said.
BN secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said the BN constitution should be amended so that all decisions can be made using a majority vote against the consensus system practiced now.
He said this in response to a request by Indian Progressive Front (IPF) president M Sambanthan in his speech at the party gathering that BN receive IPF as a component party.
BN chairman Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has been informed of the matter and the proposal will be submitted at the BN Supreme Council meeting, next year.
