Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar
KUCHING (Aug 14): The Prime Minister’s proposal for political reforms, including to limit premiership tenure to two terms and ban party hopping, is seen as a step towards the right direction to effectively combat corrupt political practices, said Dato Sri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
The Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister said that the move indicates Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s sincerity and commitment to bring about improvements in the local political scene.
The Santubong Member of Parliament said the offer was historical and momentous.
He said Malaysians have seen the Barisan Nasional (BN) reformations agendas, have seen Pakatan Harapan (PH) reformation proposal and now from Perikatan Nasional (PN).
“I consider this proposed reform as to lead the rest. If there is enough support to the proposal, a true structural reform has come to Malaysia, which has never been attempted before and which, I believe, no political government will ever do again, not in Malaysia for long time to come,” he said in a statement today.
Wan Junaidi said for the longest time, these two issues have been identified as the root causes for corruption in the country yet no political leader before this had made any attempt to do something about it.
“Ten years is already a long time for a person to rule a country. It will be dangerous to allow a person to rule longer than that as it will promote kleptocracy.
“What Muhyiddin did is a testament of his leadership and seriousness to eradicate corruption,” he said adding that he also agrees to an amendment of the law to speed up process to allow 18-year-old citizens to vote.
On proposals for parliamentary reforms, Dr Wan Junaidi fully supports the formation a bipartisan collaboration in parliament to resolve issues concerning Covid-19 and to assist with the nation’s recovery plan.
He said this is indeed a step towards the right direction for a healthier and more mature political landscape.
He said opposition parties should not be viewed as the enemy but instead be engaged so that they too can contribute.
“As such, I am in favour that all Member of Parliament should receive the same annual allocation, regardless of where they stand, politically. I also support proposal that an opposition leader should be accorded with facilities and perks of a senior minister,” he said.
Wan Junaidi, who is also a former Dewan Rakyat Deputy Speaker, said he fully supports suggestions to equally divide the chairmanship of Parliamentary Select Committee between the government and opposition.
He said this will further enhance the check and balance system, which will lead to efforts towards parliamentary reforms.
“I think for now we should put all of our differences aside and focus on how to overcome the current Covid-19 situation.
“There is no time for self-serving politicking. I think all Malaysians should support the Prime Minister and Pakatan Nasional (PN) government in this,” he added.