Of the 30 CEC members, 13 were from the combined states of Penang and Perak and their numbers nearly took half of the CEC. It was such a huge disparity and the Party needs to study the effect of this. Sabah and Sarawak were only represented by their State Chairman and State Secretary respectively and our Sarawak State Chairman, Sdr. Wong Ho Leng, who was one of the Vice-Chairman in the national body, lost his bid in the CEC Election. Sarawak only had two candidates for the CEC Election after Sdr. Chiew Chiu Sing and Sdri. Violet Yong withdrew from the race. Maybe, with respect, I would say, Sdr. Chiew Chiu Sing and Sdr. Violet Yong knew that it was difficult to get into the CEC.
As for myself, I submitted my candidate form, but, due to some technical reasons, my name did not appear in the candidate list. I also knew that it would not be easy to get into the CEC and even if I got into the CEC, there would be a lot of adjustments in my political and legal work. I put my name up because I just wanted to test the practicability of the system and my prediction was correct after I found myself not in the candidate list. I was confronted by some party members of my exclusion from the candidate list, but, I had to explain that the flaw had nothing to do with me. In respect of the flaw or weakness of the system, I had privately voiced my concern to some CEC leaders with the hope that the matter could be rectified so as not to affect the moral of party members.
The recent concluded CEC Election, seemed to suggest that the delegates were more inclined to put comrades from West Malaysia into the CEC and in the process had forgot the roles played by DAP Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysian politics. I hope CEC, being the central governing body, will take note more seriously the role played by Sabah and Sarawak. This is because both states contributed to about one-third of the MP seats in Parliament, with Sabah 25 seats and Sarawak 31 seats. We need to understand that in each Election, it was Sabah and Sarawak that used to help BN formed the government with two-thirds majority.
In shaky times, the Prime Minister used to visit Sabah and Sarawak just to make sure that everything was alright in both states. The Prime Minister sometimes came here as often as twice a week and this year alone, and although I didn’t count, the Prime Minister could have already came here for about ten times or maybe more. This was especially so, after Datuk Seri Anwar was making headlines with possible cross-over from BN MPs to Pakatan Rakyat.
Probably there is a need to amend the rules for inclusion into CEC by giving automatic right to State Chairmen of Sabah and Sarawak. At the same time, the Party may also need to look into giving to at least two and three CEC seats to Sabah and Sarawak respectively in the CEC so that this could reflect a more balance representation in the CEC from both states. There is also a need to accommodate the dayaks and other indigenous races also with more malay and Indian representation in the CEC in the event that their representation in the CEC drop.
The problem now is what will happen if Sdr. Chong Chieng Jen may not be able to attend the CEC meeting? Moreover, the northern part of the state also needs representation so as to keep the confidence of members in the north intact. I hope members should not only select comrades whom they knew, but, look at the broader scope when selecting CEC members. It seems that comrades were still in the "high" caused by the 8 March success and could have drifted away from in their thoughts about Sabah and Sarawak. With State Election looming over the heads of Sarawakians, it is hoped that DAP at the HQ. level could be able to help plan capture Sarawak.
As for myself, I submitted my candidate form, but, due to some technical reasons, my name did not appear in the candidate list. I also knew that it would not be easy to get into the CEC and even if I got into the CEC, there would be a lot of adjustments in my political and legal work. I put my name up because I just wanted to test the practicability of the system and my prediction was correct after I found myself not in the candidate list. I was confronted by some party members of my exclusion from the candidate list, but, I had to explain that the flaw had nothing to do with me. In respect of the flaw or weakness of the system, I had privately voiced my concern to some CEC leaders with the hope that the matter could be rectified so as not to affect the moral of party members.
The recent concluded CEC Election, seemed to suggest that the delegates were more inclined to put comrades from West Malaysia into the CEC and in the process had forgot the roles played by DAP Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysian politics. I hope CEC, being the central governing body, will take note more seriously the role played by Sabah and Sarawak. This is because both states contributed to about one-third of the MP seats in Parliament, with Sabah 25 seats and Sarawak 31 seats. We need to understand that in each Election, it was Sabah and Sarawak that used to help BN formed the government with two-thirds majority.
In shaky times, the Prime Minister used to visit Sabah and Sarawak just to make sure that everything was alright in both states. The Prime Minister sometimes came here as often as twice a week and this year alone, and although I didn’t count, the Prime Minister could have already came here for about ten times or maybe more. This was especially so, after Datuk Seri Anwar was making headlines with possible cross-over from BN MPs to Pakatan Rakyat.
Probably there is a need to amend the rules for inclusion into CEC by giving automatic right to State Chairmen of Sabah and Sarawak. At the same time, the Party may also need to look into giving to at least two and three CEC seats to Sabah and Sarawak respectively in the CEC so that this could reflect a more balance representation in the CEC from both states. There is also a need to accommodate the dayaks and other indigenous races also with more malay and Indian representation in the CEC in the event that their representation in the CEC drop.
The problem now is what will happen if Sdr. Chong Chieng Jen may not be able to attend the CEC meeting? Moreover, the northern part of the state also needs representation so as to keep the confidence of members in the north intact. I hope members should not only select comrades whom they knew, but, look at the broader scope when selecting CEC members. It seems that comrades were still in the "high" caused by the 8 March success and could have drifted away from in their thoughts about Sabah and Sarawak. With State Election looming over the heads of Sarawakians, it is hoped that DAP at the HQ. level could be able to help plan capture Sarawak.
4 comments:
YB Voon. I agree with you. I am from Sibu and I am concerned and not happy that East Malaysia is not represented in the CEC by not more than 1 person, who is YB Chong. Also from Sabah is YB Hiew. 1 from each East Malaysian state. I saw in the newspapars today that Yb Wong had refused to be appointed the Vice Chairman. While that is very nobel of him, I also agree with you that State Chairmen should automatically be appointed to sit in the CEC. Please bring this issue up with the National Leaders.
Would it make any differences if all 6 of DAP Sarawak ADUNs is elected in CEC? In my opinion, what more important is your committement towards your job in your constituency. I am not a DAP member so I do not know how important CEC is to DAP members. Only the people in Sarawak can make any difference in next coming state election. DAP Sarawak should concentrate on that.
In politics and in any organization, if we want our rights to be protected, we need to be counted and be represented. That is one of the basic idea in democracy. If we are not represented, we may not be able to participate in any discussions and we may not be able to know what was going on. In the end our interest will not be protected. Then we start to complain.
That is why when elections come, we have to put our heads and be counted in the hope that our voices would be represented in the legislative assembly. This also applies to participation and representation in the CEC. West Malaysians although they are our comrades may not know exactly what we are doing and what are our aspirations. That also goes to regional representation in the State. People in Kuching may not be able to know much what happened to people in Sibu, unless they were in Sibu at that point of time.
Take for Stampin during the last Parliamentary Election, many said there were feelers who went to PKR and vice versa and DAP was said gave up the seat and not to contest. When the decision was "reverted", there was hardly enough time to do do the basic thing. We were attacked left, right and bottom during campaign period and a lot of mud slinggings among those who touched fire. This may also apply in many constituencies won by the DAP. We don't want this to happen because Pakatan Rakyat may have a chance to form the next government.
If DAP Sarawak are not properly represented, who knows, maybe, constituencies like, Batu Lintang could be given up to other "allies", not for the purpose of winning for DAP, but, convenient politics. We also don't want half hearted contest, that is, to contest for the sake of contesting and in the end the "allies" also end up losing when it be agreed that the "allies" to contest in replacement of DAP. In the end, it is the politicans that made people looked like fools. People believed in them and their wrong doings when believed would be very painful to swallow. This is something that I had always wanted to avoid.
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