“Why must the American fixed term system be seen as the best system in the eyes of YB Alice Lau? Is she saying that the British system we have been practising all these years has many flaws?
“Whatever system in practice, there are bound to be some good and some bad – there is no perfect system. Malaysia was once colonised by Britain and we are very familiar with the British electoral system.
“It is not 100 per cent perfect but we have been able to have good proper elections since ‘Merdeka’ (independence). Just because some voters are not able to plan their holidays, our whole system is flawed? What is YB Alice trying to say?” said the assistant minister, who is Asajaya assemblyman, when asked on Monday.
He was reacting to Lau’s statement that a fixed-term election system where the election would occur on a set date, would be more transparent besides saving time, manpower and costs.
She had called for the Federal Constitution to be amended so that the current election system could be changed.
Lau further claimed that although the next general election was only due in 2018, many had been predicting it would be held next year – an inconvenience to the electorate’s holiday or business plans, according to her.
Abdul Karim, who is PBB Supreme Council member, said what Lau should suggest was for the date of election to be determined at least six months before the expiry of the term.
“Our system is being practised in the majority of countries in the world. It is a good system. In Japan, Singapore, India, UK, all Commonwealth countries – it is an accepted system.”
Abdul Karim felt that Lau should read more about other systems ‘apart from the US’.
“Maybe she’s too engrossed with the US presidential election that she has forgotten that Malaysia was once under Britain and has adopted the British system in its administration,” he added.
Meanwhile, Assistant Minister for Science Research and Biotechnology Dr Annuar Rapaee was puzzled as to why the opposition was so obsessed with election and election dates.
Dr Annuar, who is Nangka assemblyman, opined that as elected representatives, the most important thing would be to continue serving the people until Parliament was dissolved. He reckoned that if the representatives did not know the dates, they would focus more on their responsibilities rather than on the election.
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