by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjong, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Wednesday, 6th September 1995:
Barisan Nasional MPs should be imbued with Vision 2020 to give priority to raising the international standing of Parliament and the nation instead of indulging in petty party politics just to spike the Opposition
The Parliament meeting which concluded yesterday has again highlighted the need for Barisan Nasional MPs to be imbued with Vision 2020 to give priority to raising the international standing of Parliament and the nation instead of indulging in petty politics just to spike the Opposition.
Last Sunday, a journalist wrote in the weekly round-up on Parliament: “Poor planning on the order of bills to be debated last week resulted in unnecessary time being spent on debating the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (Amendment) Bill 1995.
“What should have been over in three or four hours was extended to three days.”
Instead of dragging out three days of the Dewan Rakyat on the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Amendment Bill, because the government was not ready to have other Bills for debate, the Barisan Nasional MPs should have agreed to use the time for debate of some of the DAP motions which had been placed on the Parliamentary Order Paper.
For instance, there was a motion in the name of the DAP MP for Kota Melaka, Lim Guan Eng, deploring the announcement of French President Chirac to resume nuclear tests in the South Pacific and calling on the French Government to cancel plan for such resumption as they are a threat to world peace and environment.
If the Malaysian Parliament had adopted such a motion, it would have added its voice to the international demand against French resumption of nuclear tests, which will raise the international standing of the Malaysian Parliament and the nation generally.
Why did the Barisan Nasional MPs decide to waste three days on the debate on the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Amendment Bill when there was a sudden absence of government business instead of using the time available to adopt a Parliamentary motion to increase international pressure demanding the cancellation of French resumption of nuclear tests?
Did the Barisan Nasional MPs support French resumption of nuclear tests and oppose the Malaysian Parliament registering its strong protest against such resumption of nuclear tests which threaten not only a proliferation of nuclear tests by other nuclear powers, but the proliferation of the number of nuclear weapon-state in the world?
Or is it because of the petty reason that the Barisan Nasional MPs do not want to be seen supporting a motion in the name of a DAP MP opposing resumption of French nuclear tests?
Barisan Nasional MPs suffer from two mental blocks which make them prefer to waste three hours on the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Amendment Bill instead of debating and adopting a motion to protest against French resumption of nuclear tests.
If this is the reason, then Barisan Nasional MPs had subordinated the higher interests and international standing of Parliament to petty partisan considerations.
When previously the Barisan Nasional had presented a motion in Parliament to condemn Serb genocide and ethnic cleansing in Bosnia-Herzegovina,the DAP and other Opposition MPs gave full support to ensure its unanimous passage.
We did not say that because the motion was moved by the Barisan Nasional, the Opposition must oppose for the sake of opposition! Why then should Barisan Nasional MPs themselves be “opposing for the sake of opposition” by killing the motion on the Parliamentary Order Paper protesting against French resumption of nuclear test just because it was in the name of a DAP MP?
Malaysian MPs lost a great opportunity to be in the forefront of world Parliaments to condemn the French resumption of nuclear tests.
The negative attitude of Barisan Nasional MPs making them prefer to waste three hours on the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Amendment Bill rather than debating and passing a motion to condemn French resumption of nuclear tests arise from two mental blocks:
• Failure to understand that Opposition parliamentary business is also Parliamentary business; and
• Failure to realise that Opposition MPs are also Malaysian MPs.
We have just celebrated our 38th National Day and Malaysians are entitled to demand a greater maturity from the Malaysian Parliament and all MPs and to expect them to be able to act as one as Malaysians on common issues whether affecting the nation or the humanity as a whole.