YOURSAY 'The BN government is recorded to have made 650 amendments to the constitution in 42 successful attempts during its reign because of a feeble opposition.'

Bishop against giving two-thirds majority

Clearwater: At the very least, a non two-thirds majority government will be prevented from frequently amending the federal constitution.

The BN government is recorded to have made 650 amendments to the constitution in 42 successful attempts during its reign because of a feeble opposition.

Some amendments were hardly debated before being passed. Never allow that to happen again. We need a good government watched over by a strong opposition.

Giudice: I agree that no leader should be allowed a lengthy stay in power. But it's too simplistic to suggest that we should not give a party a two-thirds majority.

Understandably, some are against ever giving a party a two-thirds majority because of the way BN has abused its power. That however is BN and we should not paint all parties with the same brush.

The constitution requires a two-thirds majority in certain circumstances before an Act can be passed. Never giving a party a two-thirds majority means Pakatan Rakyat will never be able to redress the wrongs committed by BN when it had amended the constitution so many times.

Also, some may think it is better not to vote for Pakatan to prevent them from getting a two-thirds majority not realising that every vote counts to get Pakatan to Putrajaya.

I would suggest that whether a party gets a two-thirds majority should be dependent on whether the citizens are confident that the party will do the right thing. What is needed is a good system of checks and balances and transparency.

Mano: Well said Bishop Paul Tan, but we need to give Pakatan two terms of two-thirds majority to clean up the dire mess BN has brought the country to.

Once a true two-party system is in place, we shall have the two parties checking each other.

Timothy: Rightly said, Bishop Paul Tan. Hopefully one day our elected MPs will reach political maturity whereby they will vote independently based on issues that will benefit the rakyat and not on party line.

Then a two-thirds majority will no more be an issue. I would also agreed with Mano, as of now give Pakatan a two-thirds majority to clean up Putrajaya.

Bye Bye: Bishop Paul Tan obviously has his rights as a citizen to state his opinion on our nation. He is disgusted with former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad, so do I. He does not want two-thirds majority to either coalition, so do I.

But my humble opinion is that the bishop is out of line this time as the church was not targetted.

Wanderer: Bye Bye, you are missing the point. I hope Malaysia is still practicing democracy. Why are you so silent when Islamic holy men engaged themselves fully in politics - were their mosques on fire?

Disbeliever: The bishop has to be non-partisan and thus his advice to the people not to give two-thirds majority to any particular coalition.

I stand with Malaysians of all colours and creed to end BN's 55-year rule where we have seen seeds of disharmony sowed by BN politicians, we have seen the fear planted on to us, we have seen the arrogance of BN politicians who treat the people as 'slaves' when in fact the politicians are the ones who should be 'slaves' serving the people, their masters.

Then there is corruption walking in every nook and corner of the corridors of power. We have come to a stage where BN have claimed exclusive rights in ruling this country as they have never tasted defeat.

To put it in a nutshell, the people have awaken and we have to vote for change for the sake of our future and our children's future.

Chris Wong: Bishop Tan has shown courage in speaking up clearly, eloquently and unapologetically on social justice issues, not just once by many times.

Starr: Bishop Paul Tan is absolutely right in advising against giving Umno-BN a two-thirds majority.

The advice coming from a man of immense scholastic ability is apt as such a majority accorded by the electorate in the past has been grossly abused to the detriment of the national interests.

The spirit of Merdeka and the character of the nation have not been infringed but also fundamentally altered beyond recognition the vision and design of the nation's chief architects.

In a functioning democracy, no government should be given two-thirds majority in parliament, especially in a developing nation such as ours, where accountability and transparency of government must be the primary consideration.

Giving the government a two-thirds majority has dire consequences of abuse, corruption and arrogance. No doubt, it's been a costly mistake to give Umno-BN government two-thirds majority and the resultant effects are still evident today.

Whatever happens at the next election, no party should be given a two-thirds majority, not least an Umno-BN government.

Justathougt): Give Pakatan a two-thirds majority for the following purpose only:

1. Amend the federal constitution to outlaw party hopping.

2. Amend the federal constitution to limit the prime minister's tenure to only two terms.

I was going to suggest separation of religion from government, but that looks overly drastic and not attainable.

Multi Racial: I understand the bishop's predicament. But we cannot hold back this time. We cannot take chance. We have to vote Pakatan into power.

Even if Pakatan wins more than two-thirds, we know there are enough check and balance within the Pakatan coalition to prevent abuses.

In so doing, we hope BN will purge all its corrupt and racist leaders. We hope that BN will reform into a single multi-racial party and be strongly in contention at the 14 ^th general election. After all, we want a two-party system.

Swipenter: I think that a strong majority would encourage MPs to pass laws with a conscience rather than with a sheer force of numerical superiority.

Our experience shows that the two-thirds majority is easily open to abuse and laws are passed for the interest and benefit of a few rather than for the interests of social justice.

It is naive to assume that the majority would protect the interests of the minority. The abuses, mismanagement and misgovernance of the country by the Umno-BN regime over the past four decades would take a dictator like LKY (Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew) to undo the damage and set the country on the right path once again.

So a two-thirds majority for Pakatan is not such a bad idea given the circumstances.

Cogito Ergo Sum: For once, I have to disagree with the bishop. In displacing BN, a resounding two-thirds is required to send an unequivocal message to this racist regime that Malaysians have had enough their shenanigans and thievery.

For better or worse, Pakatan deserves an empathic win to send the message loud and clear that the people want a better future. It will also discourage party hopping, which BN seem to be masters at, having at its disposal a huge war chest looted during their 55 years of misrule.

Mahashitla: Giving two-thirds majority to BN is suicidal as Mahathir will exert his influence on Najib to do more harm than good in order to ensure BN rules forever.

However, we should put our trust on Pakatan with a two-thirds majority in order to undo the damages caused by BN's 56 year rule. The risk of abuse by Pakatan is almost zero as Pakatan go by consensus, which is entirely differently from BN, which follows what Umno says.

Kairos: Never before in more than six decades of my life as a loyal Malaysian who sincerely loves his country have I seen such a groundswell of sentiment against the establishment.

It is clear that the majority of fair-minded right-thinking Malaysians are totally fed up with the excesses of the present government. This is certainly the prevailing sentiment in the urban areas.

Everywhere people are angry and disgusted with the corruption, cronyism and cover-ups of CBT (criminal breach of trust) in the rank-and-file of the government machinery. BN will suffer devastating losses in the towns.

The key to ultimately tip the balance in favour of the opposition clearly lies in the Malay hinterland of West Malaysia and the rural areas of Sabah and Sarawak. The destiny of the nation is decided in these critical areas.

So it is absolutely imperative that what is circulating around the coffee shops in the town must be disseminated to the rural areas. Only then can we realistically stand a chance to see the change.

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