Parliamentary committees for check and balance, and equal allocation to opposition constituencies can be conditions in a truce between the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government and the opposition, DAP MP Anthony Loke said.
He made these suggestions in an interview with Malaysiakini as a follow-up to his remarks on Sunday, where he mooted the idea of a truce in the Dewan Rakyat for the sake of political stability.
Loke said all should be prepared to “make concessions instead of just wanting others to accept your (requests)”.
Muhyiddin’s government had slim majority (111 out of 222 MPs) in the last two bloc votes held by Dewan Rakyat.
As part of the truce, Muhyiddin must restore previous Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) system of parliamentary select committees. Since PN took over the federal government in March, none of the committees have been established.
The select committees will allow opposition MPs to provide checks and balances on the government, Loke said.
Loke, who is DAP national organising secretary and Seremban MP, said the second condition should be equal financing for opposition-held constituencies.
“This is a long-standing issue since Barisan Nasional (BN) days,” he said, referring to the practice by the federal government of the day to channel funding for opposition constituencies to a federal agency rather than to the elected representative directly.
PH when it was in power, had allocated funding directly to BN MPs, but at a lower amount than given to its own MPs.
Loke told Malaysiakini he had raised his proposal for a truce and the conditions with two Bersatu ministers, and DAP leaders in informal discussions.
There will only be a proper discussion if there is consensus over his idea, he said.
As for Muhyiddin, Loke said the prime minister should consider the advantages of such a proposal and call for talks on the matter.
“Muhyiddin will not have to bow down to the pressure and threats by individual (government) MPs who want to threaten his government by not attending a Dewan Rakyat sitting.
“The major gain is that he can enjoy his position as the prime minister for the time being, at least for the remaining of his term,” Loke was quoted as saying.
His first remarks on the proposed truce were made at a forum earlier this week.
He said the idea was not meant to be taken as the opposition changing its stand against the “Sheraton Move” that saw the PN government formed through defections and plotting.
Loke said even with such a truce, the opposition would still criticise the government as part of its role to keep the authorities in check. – TMI