Patrick Lee Free Malaysia Today October 6, 2011
Pakatan Rakyat members tick off Ongkili for making decisions without consultation and barring Bersih from attending the meetings.
KUALA LUMPUR: Pakatan Rakyat MPs in the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) for electoral reforms have rapped its chairman for making decisions without consulting the group first
PAS Kuala Krai MP Hatta Ramli said that PSC chairman Maximus Johnity Ongkili jumped the gun by announcing nationwide public hearings, and also barring Bersih 2.0 from attending the PSC’s meetings.
“This may not be a big issue, but (the fact remains) that the decision was made by him without consultation. The first meeting hasn’t even been held… decisions should have been made then, but he seems to have decided himself.”
“Is this a one-man-show or a committee of nine people?” asked Hatta, when talking to reporters at the Parliament lobby here today.
Last night, Ongkili gave the media an idea of what to expect in the upcoming PSC meetings. He said that at least six public hearings were to take place in both the Peninsula and Sabah and Sarawak.
Bersih, he added, would be barred from attending the PSC meetings.
Who is Ongkili to decide?
However, Ongkili said that Bersih chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan would be allowed to submit proposals to the PSC as either a member of the Bar Council or as an individual.
But Hatta said that it was ironic for Ongkili to have made this decision (to bar Bersish) when it was Bersih that set about the chain of events leading to the formation of the PSC.
“Who is he to decide on what position Ambiga should come in?… This PSC was agreed upon subsequent to the July 9 Bersih gathering.
“The rally was important as it resulted in the formation of the PSC. By rejecting Bersih, I think Ongkili is trying to show something, and it defeats the whole purpose,” he said.
On July 9, more than 10,000 protesters took part in the Bersih 2.0 rally in Kuala Lumpur.
Fellow PSC member and Rasah MP Anthony Loke (DAP) said that Ongkili should have approached the matter as the PSC chairman rather than as a minister.
“This is a bi-partisan committee… this is not a rubber-stamp committee,” he said.
Fellow Pakatan-PSC member Gombak MP Azmin Ali (PKR) was not able to attend the press conference