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KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 5 — Umno supreme council member Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said has urged her political peers to adopt a more professional and “multi-partisan” approach to ensure better political stability and prosperity to the rakyat.
In an exclusive interview with Mingguan Malaysia, the Penggerang MP explained that Malaysian politics has changed drastically following the 2018 general election, with no political party holding dominance within the system.
“We must accept the new norm that there is no more dominant party in Parliament as before 2018.
This is because the parties in Sabah and Sarawak are longer closely tied to the national collations and multi-cornered fights make it impossible for the winner to get an easy majority of 112 seats out of a total of 165 seats contested in the Peninsula.
“So, what they need is to bring the practice of professional competition that can guarantee political stability and the welfare of the people.
“Government and the Opposition need to show a bipartisan spirit. So a Recall Election Bill to prevent MPS from jumping and reforms in political funding is important.
“We should make the Parliament an arena for deliberation and not a field for incitement and slander. It is important that the Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat comes from the circles of the Member of Parliament, elected across party lines and neutral during carrying out its duties. Not only fair but seen to be fair,’’ she said in her interview with the Sunday edition of Utusan Malaysia.
When asked whether Umno, PAS and Bersatu, under the same coalition could be the dominant party in the future, Azalina stated that the matter is for the rakyat to decide.
“Whether Umno will return to lead the country, that is up to the trust of the people towards the party. It can’t be denied that the result of GE14 showed the trust of the people towards Umno has decreased but after GE14, Umno-BN has won almost all by-elections.
“So it is the responsibility of all Umno members to regain the trust of the people by fighting for the people and to put aside all political manoeuvring, especially during a time when the people are affected by the Covid-19 pandemic,’’ she said.
In the interview, Azalina reiterated her call for an anti-party hopping law among lawmakers as well as reforms to political funding to ensure that no lawmaker will be influenced or biased towards their supposed funders.
