Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How said this was simply the same old strategy to appeal to non-Muslim voters in East Malaysia.
He was referring to Najib’s statement in Kota Kinabalu yesterday, where the latter said he would change the present laws requiring Sabahans whose names include “bin” and “binti” to prove they are not Muslim.
He also blamed these requirements on “Little Napoleons” in the National Registration Department and other government departments.
“We must find ways to solve this problem,” Najib said at the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Congress, without elaborating how.
On a separate matter, See said it was imperative that Sabah and Sarawak voters “play their role” in the coming 14th General Election (GE14).
Sabah and Sarawak have long been considered “fixed deposit” states for Barisan Nasional (BN), currently providing 21 and 25 MPs for the BN coalition, respectively.
This is more than half the total number of MPs that the BN has from the rest of the states put together (86). It also helps give BN a simple majority of 132 out of the total 222 seats in the Dewan Rakyat.
“This coming general election will be the most dirty and most unfair, especially in Peninsular Malaysia,” See told reporters after receiving the Bersih 5 convoy in Kota Padawan here yesterday.
“Now they are doing the redelineation of the constituencies and it will definitely make it easy for Umno to win more seats and retain power. Sarawak and Sabah have a very important mission, that is, to save Malaysia,” See said.
He added that Najib’s promise to help with Sarawak’s autonomous right has yet to be fulfilled.
“He said the Federal government is very sympathetic and is willing to talk. But he has been talking about the same thing for two years. He promised, but he has been dragging his feet.
“There will be more sweet talk and sweets (given) to Sarawak and Sabah. He will keep promising the devolution of powers and the restoration of autonomous rights, hoping they are still going to get a big win from Sarawak and Sabah, which they believe is their fixed deposit,” See said.
GE14 is widely expected to be held next year.
The Federal Constitution states that a general election needs to be called when Parliament is dissolved or it reaches a maximum term of five years. The current Parliament kicked off its term on June 24, 2013, therefore Parliament will automatically be dissolved as of June 24, 2018.
As a general election needs to be called no later than two months after Parliament is dissolved, therefore, the last possible date for the next general election (GE14) will be August 24, 2018.