Coalition govt should be formed via party-to-party negotiations, not SDs – Bersih

[superadmin]

THE Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) takes exception to the call of Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun for party leaders to submit statutory declarations (SDs) of their MPs who are willing to give support to a prime minister candidate to form the new government.

The speaker should know that the use of SDs for the formation of the government has been proven to be a failure, again and again, contributing to much instability over the years.

A parliamentary government is a government based on a common governance programme, not a bunch of individual MPs supporting a common prime minister candidate, whether or not in exchange for positions.

It is unreasonable that party leaders are rushed into deals before all their MPs have the chance to deliberate and be heard. No timeline should be set for this important process.

The most important goal in this process is to ensure that a sustainable and stable government can be formed and this can only be achieved through a carefully negotiated agreement between the parties and it should not be hastily rushed through using SDs.

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