by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Wednesday, June 16, 1993:
MCA leadership must be firm in rejecting all suggestions of scrapping the two-third majority requirement by simple majority for constitutional amendments
I am shocked by the MCA reaction to the proposal by the Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat, Tan Sri Zahir Mohamed Ismail, that constitutional amendments should require only a simple majority and not a two-thirds majority.
MCA Deputy Secretary-General, Dr. Sak Cheng Lum, said the MCA would study the Speaker’s proposal and that he would refer the matter to the MCA legal bureau for “brainstorming and to study its far-reaching implications”.
I want to ask the MCA national leaders what is there for them to “brainstorm” as far as the Speaker’s preposterous proposal is concerned which would undermine constitutional safeguards and fundamental rights entrenched in the Federal Constitution since Merdeka in 1957?
The MCA national leadership should dismiss outright the Speaker’s proposal to scrap the two-thirds majority requirement for constitutional amendments instead of giving the impression that there is any merit in such a proposal.
Is it because UMNO Secretary-General, Datuk Mohamed Rahmat, had said that UMNO legal experts would look into the Speaker’s proposal that the MCA leadership dare not dismiss the Speaker’s proposal outright?
The MCA leaders, especially the four MCA Ministers in Cabinet, should be firm in rejecting all suggestions of scrapping the two-thirds majority rule by a simple majority for constitutional amendments – or they will again confirm in public eyes that MCA Ministers and leaders are the ‘last to know, last to be conscious’ and even ‘not knowing, not conscious’.
The MCA leadership would have failed in its political responsibilities if it helps to promote the Speaker’s proposal to scrap the two-thirds requirement for constitutional amendments by referring it to the MCA legal bureau.
Let the MCA leadership therefore declare forthright that there is nothing for the MCA legal bureau to ‘brainstorm and study’, as the MCA leadership totally rejects the Speaker’s proposal.