by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjong, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Thursday, 12th October 1995:.
DAP expresses grave regret that the new Education Bill will not be tabled in Parliament, next week to give MP’s and nation at least two months’ time for public study and feedback before parliamentary debate and passage
DAP expresses grave regret that the new Education Bill will not be tabled in Parliament next week to give MPs and nation at least two month time for public study and feedback before parliamenrary debate and passage.
From what the Education Minister Datuk Najib Tun Razak indicated yesterday, the new Education Bill would be tabled at the “tail-end” of the budget meeting or Parliament in December arid that at least two days would be set aside for its debate in the Dewan Rakyat.
What I find even more odd is that Najib could claim that he was respecting the wishes, of the Chinese community in not tabling the new Education Bill in Parliament next week.
From the scenario given by Najib, it is likely that the new Education Bill would be tabled tor first reading in the Parliament, on Thursday, 14th Dec., with MPs and the nation given the weekend to study the new legislation, and the second reading, debate and passage would be rushed through in the last two days of the Parliamentary budget meeting on December 14 and 20.
This will make a complete mockery of the parliamentary process, as it will mean that MPs are given two to three days to prepare to debate and decide on an education bill which had taken the Barisan Nasional Government nearly 10 years to finalise!
I would have thought that alter winning five-sixth majority in Parliament in the April general election,, the Barisan National Government would be more open and democratic as in giving MPs and the people ample time to study proposed new legislation- But nothing seems to have changed in this respect.
I reiterate the DAP call for the new Education Bill to be tabled in Parliament, next week,, and that MPs and the country should be given two months’ time for public study and feedback before, parliamentary debate and passage.