Sarawak should aim to be the No. 1 in State Assembly reform and modernization in the country by giving official recognition to the position of Opposition Leader and establishment of all-party Select Committees

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Media Statement (2)
by Lim Kit Siang  
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(Sibu, Tuesday) : SUPP President Tan Sri Dr. George Chan has said that the SUPP would not only conduct an internal post-mortem on its loss in the Sarawak state general election last Saturday but also commission an independent audit to get a clear picture of what happened.

Chan said: “We hear the voice of the people loud and clear. Now we want to know why they made that noise.”

If Chan continues to be so haughty and arrogant as to  regard the voice of the people as “noise”, Sarawakians  cannot expect the SUPP and Barisan Nasional leaders to really accept or respect their views, hopes and aspirations – which would then be the occasion for the people to teach them  a second “lesson” in future.

With the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi giving so much emphasis to the creation of a “first-class mentality” to pave the way for Malaysia to become a fully developed nation in 2020, the Sarawak State Assembly should be playing a leading role  in this process.

Sarawak should aim to be the No. One in the country  in pioneering State Assembly reform and modernization, such as  by giving official recognition to the position of Opposition Leader.  DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng has just announced the appointment  of  DAP Assemblyman for Bukit Assek, Wong Ho Leng as the Sarawak Assembly Opposition Leader.

Another “first” for Assembly reform and modernization is  the establishment of Assembly  Select Committees comprising all-party  representatives to make in-depth studies and conduct public consultations and even public hearings of  major issues affecting the people in the state, as is now being done in Parliament.

The six DAP Sarawak State Assembly representatives have  very challenging and exciting tasks ahead of them to make their contributions to transform the Sarawak State Assembly into a vibrant and representative chamber where the voices of the people are often heard and debated, and not just  an echo chamber of the Sarawak Chief Minister.

(23/05/2006)