APRIL 8 — Reading my timeline at 11.40pm was a mistake. I could not sleep after reading YB Rafizi’s justifications on Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) missing in action Parliamentarians during the voting morning of Prevention of Terrorism Bill 2015.

For a brilliant guy, I surely was disappointed with his responses. Enough of excuses, we are tired of it. Let’s just call a spade, a spade. Reprimand your MPs should they fail to do the most sacred thing once they are entrusted by the people to represent the voice and the soul of the rakyat in Parliament. Lame excuses will only diminish your moral high-ground!

Rafizi’s excuse —  that the government’s bill will be passed anyway because they are the majority is a mockery of democracy. I do believe that the opposition should fight tooth and nail to oppose the government even if they are smaller in number. It is their duty to do so. Haven’t they been speaking in the minority all this while anyway? What changed? 26 opposition MPs were asleep that morning and only 60 of the opposition MPs attended. Opposition resources definitely were not exhausted as things could have been different since only 79 government MPs attended. Do your math!

Even though opposition MPs are smaller in number, they should have strived for putting everything on record so that come 2018, they can tell the rakyat that they have done all they can to oppose the bill.

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I hope the rakyat will not accept YB Rafizi’s explanation. YB Rafizi’s logic will only promote lazy parliamentarians who do not see the value of voting against a bill just because they are on the losing side. It is also my hope that PR MPs will not be demotivated by his statement that fighting till early hours in the morning is a waste of time because the result will not be in your favour.  I believe that our elected MPs are more resilient than this.

Should representing the voice of rakyat in Parliament take a back seat over pre-planned ceramahs?

Meeting the rakyat is without a doubt a task of an elected parliamentarian. However, let’s put things into context. Parliamentarians from both sides are given notice of parliamentary sessions at least 28 days before the session starts (Order 9 of the Standing Orders of the Dewan Rakyat). This I believe is sufficient for the MPs to plan their calendar ahead and after all, the Dewan Rakyat is not in session for 365 days. Any reasonable voter would understand that ceramahs can only be done on Fridays or the weekends when Parliament is in session as representing the people in Parliament is the main purpose of an elected Member of Parliament. If Pakatan MPs are not able to anticipate the ‘dirty move’ by the Barisan Nasional government in calling the voting early, perhaps the voters are overestimating the PKR’s strategies and experience.

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I like to believe that the future of Malaysia lies in the fresh leadership that the PR can offer. The leadership that is free from nepotism, embodies meritocracy and blind of colour and religion. But I’m starting to lose this hope.

Reading YB Rafizi’s excuses that we should discount the expectation on Parliamentarians as some bills are really thick, is a disappointment to say the least. PR MPs are mostly made of lawyers, accountants and professionals who often had to go through boxes of documents to make a living. I am sure YB Rafizi himself went through crazy amount of documents to disclose NFC scandal as well as 1MDB. PR for the past week was also active in issuing statements condemning the Prevention of Terrorism Bill 2015. Such excuse is a mockery to their own hardwork.

When I voted for Lim Lip Eng for Segambut, I surely do not expect him to pull a 10 year old, blaming time constraint and thick reading materials to skip school.

** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.