by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Saturday, June 19, 1993:
MCA Youth’s stand on Speaker’s proposal to scrap two-thirds majority rule very late but still better than never
MCA Youth Leader, Datuk Chan Kong Choy, has at last come out publicly to oppose the suggestion by the Speaker, Tan Sri Zahir Ismail, to scrap the two-thirds majority rule for constitutional amendments and its replacement with a simple majority rule.
It has taken MCA Youth leader, who should be the ‘vanguard’ and not in the ‘rearguard’, five long days to oppose the Speaker’s shocking proposal, but it is better to be very late than never!
However, MCA Youth should demand that the MCA national leadership abandon its plan to study the Speaker’s proposal as announced by the MCA Deputy Secretary-General, Dr. Sak Cheng Lum, for such a study would give support and legitimacy to the demand for the abolition of the two-thirds majority rule for constitutional amendments.
In fact, Datuk Chan Kong Choy should demand that Dr. Sak Cheng Lum should publicly apologise for lending support to the Speaker’s proposal by referring it to the MCA legal bureau for ‘brainstorming and to study its far-reaching implication.’
Finally, Chan Kong Choy should ask the four MCA Ministers to get the Cabinet to end the whole proposal to scrap the two-thirds majority rule for constitutional amendment by making a policy statement that the Government has not such intention whatsoever.
If the four MCA Ministers could not get the Cabinet to make such a policy statement on Wednesday, than it means that the Speaker’s proposal is being studied and pursued by the Government and could be brought to Parliament any time this year.