Article 10 (2), (3) and (4) also contradict Freedom of Association. Anti-hopping law is for electoral trusts

-
The minister in the prime minister's department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz has mentioned that the anti-hopping law would go against Article 10 of the Federal Constitution which he claimed, protects the people's freedom of association.

However, Datuk Nazri only mentioned Article 10 in general and did not specifically go deeper into the contents of Article 10. Actually, inside Article 10 of the Federal Constitution, Section 1 guarantees the freedom of speech, expression, right to assemble peacefully and the right to form associations, while Section 2, 3 and 4 says that the parliament may impose laws and restrictions onto what has been mentioned on Section 1.

This means, in Article 10 itself, these sections are already contradicting each other. What is the use of having Article 10, Section 1 which guarantees freedom of association when on the other hand, Section 2, 3 and 4 has been created to restrict the rights enshrined in Section 1?

As for the proposed anti-hopping law of which the BN government has been opposing, that kind of law was not supposed to be link with the Federal Constitution at all. The anti-hopping law was supposed to be part of the existing electoral law which governs the electoral process and order. This means, the anti-hopping law is applied more on protecting the people's right and their electoral choice at large.

In this case, when a candidate contested under a party banner and won, it was because the people elected the said party, and when that candidate who won a particular seat under the party banner which he or she is a member and suddenly decided to switch to another party, isn't that called betrayal of trusts?

In order to effectively oppose the proposed anti-hopping law, the BN government is now trying to use the Federal Constitution in order to justify their purpose in doing so. We urge Datuk Nazri to state the facts right and not confusing the public with the Federal Constitution. The proposed anti-hopping law's aim is to safeguard the interests and the choices of our people, to prevent money politics and wipe out electoral corruptions. Party-hopping by unfaithful politicians are in fact working against the people's rights and their choice of representation.

If the Datuk Nazri and the BN government are really sincere about Freedom of Association as enshrined in the Federal Constitution, then abolish Article 10, Section 2, 3 and 4 in order to grant our people the effective rights and freedom. Otherwise, the Article 10, Section 1 of the Federal Constitution would be useless.

Popular posts from this blog

EC should ask ROS to register Pakatan quickly

-
Image
The Election Commission (EC) had recently advised the current opposition pact, Pakatan Rakyat comprising PAS, PKR and DAP, to register their coalition so that they could use their logo in the coming general election. EC deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar said the coalition should be registered because the opposition parties were always seen violating regulations of the election campaign, especially on the use of their logo. Datuk Wan Ahmad seems to be overly ignorant and too forgetful on this issue. The EC deputy chairman should ask the Registrar of Societies (ROS) to quickly register the Pakatan instead of calling on Pakatan to register itself. Pakatan Rakyat had earlier send in their formal application to register itself as a coalition of political parties since November 2009 and ROS has yet to register the said entity till today after delaying and creating so many hassles for more than a year. It is not Pakatan who is delaying on its application but it was the ROS who is just...
Read more

USM fiasco a shame

-
I read and heard with irritation and felt disgusted with the fiasco committed by the apex status university called Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) which caused untold anguish to the affected students and their parents. If this happened in Japan, the Vice-Chancellor would have done the honourable thing - take full responsibilty and leave, but here in Malaysia, as expected, the blame is shifted here and there, trying to make someone a scapegoat. By the way, would there be any racist or sabotage elements involved? Those who are responsible for this fiasco should be sacked or expelled immediately.
Read more

Singapore Malay daily teaches Mahathir about hardwork

-
Image
The former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's assumption that Malays in Singapore had failed and their neighbouring Malays should take lesson from their plight has not impressed a Singaporean daily. The republic's Malay daily Berita Harian in an editorial said Malay-Muslims in the republic state were successful and it was a result of their real efforts and hard work in line with the values of meritocracy, not a result of being spoon-fed. “We do not believe in being spoon-fed or being too dependent on the government - in other words, we do not have a crutch mentality,' wrote editor Guntor Sadali. Guntor said Singapore Malays believed that a community with such a mentality would soon become a “two M” community, which stands for ‘manja’ (spoilt), and ‘malas’ (lazy). “We definitely do not want to be labelled as a pampered and lazy community,” he said, adding that the Malay community in the island raised their own funds to build Islamic schools, mosques and other community pro...
Read more