Speech by Parliamnetay Opposition Leader , DAP Secretary – General and MP for Tanjung , Lim Kit Siang , at the Ngeri Sembilan DAP State Committee meeting in Seremban on Thursday , January 6, 1994, at 8pm.
All Dap State Committee instructed to form general elections committee to prepare for the next general elections expected in six months
All DAP State Committee have been instructed to form general election committees to prepare for the next general elections expected in six months’ times.
At the national level , the newly – elected DAP Central Executive Committee has formed a National General Elections Committee to make preparations for the DAP’s seventh general elections since 1969.
The next general elections is expected to be very advantageous to the ruling parties, and there is even speculation that the DAP would face the worst in its 28- year history – getting even less seats than the DAP debacle in the 1982 general elections.
Many reasons have been advanced for this worst-scene scenario for the DAP in the next general elections , one of which is the current constituency redelineation exercise by the Election Commission.
It is common knowledge that every time there is a constituency redelineation , democracy suffers another grave setback , for constituencles would be redrawn in a manner most beneficial to the ruling parties as the Election Commission is not a completely independent body as intended by the Malaysian Constitution.
The Seremben parliamentary constituency is a good example. Under the current constituency redelineation exercise, 14000 Chinese voters in Seremban have been arbitrarily transferred out to make Seremban a more winnable seat for MCA, reducing the Chinese voters in the constituency from 53.1 per cent to 46 percent.
In such a worst scene scenario for the DAP in the next general elections – where in one scenario , DAP is expected to get only five parliamentary seats – it would seem unlikely that the DAP would be able to win any parliamentary seat in Ngeri Sembilan in the next general elections/
Challenge of Ngeri Sembilan DAP to re-capture the Seremban and Rasah parliamentary seats although MCA doomsday prophets forecast a zero score for the DAP in the state
Despite these doomsday prediction for the DAP in the next general elections, particularly by MCA hopefuls who are jostling to become MPs, Parliamentary Secretaries , Deputy Ministers and ministers , it is still the people who will decide on years fighting and sacrificing for the rights of the people is to be dismissed so lightly.
The great challenge for Ngeri Sembilan DAP leaders members and supporters is to prove these MCA doomsday prophetis wrong for their forecast of a zero score for the DAP in the State – and demonstrate that in the next general elections the DAP could still re0capture both the Seremban and Rasah parliamentary seats.
Although the economic buoyancy in the country and the bull stock market are reckoned as plus factors for the Barisan Nasional , I believe that Malaysians would want to see a democratization of the political system where the people will have a greater say and influence in decisions affecting their own future , whether at the national , state or local level.
DAP has an important role play in raising the political consciousness of the people , and in demanding greater accountability and transparency by all government bodies and agencies , including the Election Commission.
This is why the DAP had not hesitated to take the Government to court for abuses of power to protect the democratic rights of all Malaysian.
It was for this reason that I took the Election Commission to court when it illegally and unconstitutionally started the constituency redelineation exercise in November 1992., in disregard of clear – out constitutional provisions. The Election Commission had to concede defeat when this case went before the Kuala Lumpur High Court for hearing in February last year , and it had start the redelination exercise all over again.
DAP’s second legal challenge to the Election Commission on its constituency redelineation would be decided on January 19,
The DAP , through my political secretary and DAP National Organising Secretary Sdr. Teng Chang Kim had brought a second legal action against the Election Commission – this time for violating the fundamentak right of Malaysians to legal representation when appearing before the Election Commission local inquiries to object to its constituency redelineation proposals.
The hearing for Sdr. Teng Chang Khim’s case has been fixed in the Kuala Lumpur High Court for January 19, 1994.
If Sdr. Teng Chang Khim ‘s case is successful , and the Election Commissions loses a second time in the Kuala Lumpur High Court , it would not only affect the constituency redelineation exercise but even the general election date.
This is because the Election Commission had been working under the deadline to present its constituency redelineation report to the Dewan Rakyat for adoption in the April meeting of Parliament , so that the Prime Minister , Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamed, could dissolve Parliament and call general elections anytime thereafter.
This deadline would be upset if the Barisan Commission is again defeated in the second DAP legal suit on 19th January 1994 and the earliest it could present its report to Parliament for adoption would be the July Parliament – or in an earlier emergency Parliamentary meeting