SANDAKAN – United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (Upko) honorary president Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau has called on the cabinet to initiate a green paper on the Fixed-term Parliament Act (FTPA).
The Tuaran MP said that the Legal Affairs Division should prepare a green paper on the matter to facilitate public discussion and solicit feedback on various proposals without committing the government to any proposal.
“The green paper is an open-ended invitation for all segments of society to contribute to the debate in an informed and factual manner; it can prevent a long delay that allows misinformation to accumulate,” he said in a statement today.
Tangau said that since the FTPA has been implemented in other countries for decades, research literature would be abundant, making it possible for a green paper to be tabled at the Dewan Rakyat by March 27 (the end of the first session this year).
He stated that delaying the discussion on the matter could lead to serious misinformation among the public, allowing misinformed MPs to dominate the debate to the point where the FTPA becomes politically unfeasible, even if the government wants it later.
For instance, people may have been misinformed that the FTPA would affect the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s discretionary power to withhold the prime minister’s request for early dissolution of Parliament under Article 40(2)(b), as the UK’s FTPA did, which could be alarming to many Malay-Muslim voters.
Political elites in Sabah and Sarawak could also be misinformed that the FTPA would revive a Barisan Nasional-like new hegemonic coalition, such that Sabah and Sarawak would lose the now-stronger bargaining power they have enjoyed since 2018.
People in Sabah and Sarawak fear that the Madani government would become too strong if the FTPA was imposed. But Tangau said, as a fifth-term parliamentarian from Sabah who has witnessed and experienced the political turbulence for years, he believes that the FTPA could be beneficial to Borneo-based parties if it is well-drafted.
Firstly, he said, the FTPA must, in a package, entail amendments to the Dewan Rakyat Standing Orders to prioritise motions of no-confidence and confidence. If any federal government in the future hurts the interests of Sabah and Sarawak, Borneo-based parties can easily move to unseat the government on the floor of Dewan Rakyat.
Secondly, the FTPA should permanently close the door on the collection and counting of statutory declarations by parliamentarians, reviving the pre-2009 (Perak) status quo, because it is not beneficial to Borneo-based parties like what happened after the 15th general election.
Tangau also added that the FTPA would prevent the prime minister from seeking royal consent for early dissolution at whim, as he would need two-thirds support from the Dewan Rakyat. This means the prime minister cannot call for an early election at a time disadvantageous for GPS, GRS, and other Borneo parties.
Time to consider state-level FTPA
At the same time, Tangau also proposed a Sabah-level FTPA. He said that if there was an FTP law for Sabah, the Sabah assembly would serve until midnight on October 25, 2025, unless the state government loses two-thirds of state assembly support.
“What’s wrong with such certainty? What benefits do we Sabahans enjoy with on-and-off rumours of an early election?” he said.
“With a green paper, every state can have informed discussions on the matter both for the Parliament and their state assemblies. Putrajaya should realise that top-down decision-making – basic decisions made first, state-level engagements later – can be off-putting, especially for Sabah and Sarawak people.
“We are tired of just being asked to take sides. We want an active role in the discussion. With a green paper, we Sabahans and Sarawakians can organise our informed debates and set our own agenda,” he added. – January 26, 2024