Call for GE16 to be held as soon as possible: A flip flop? — Hafiz Hassan

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi proposed enacting a Fixed Term Parliament Act (FTPA) to ensure a full five-year governmental term, gaining support from Project SAMA and others advocating for political stability in Malaysia.

However, despite initial backing, Ahmad Zahid later called for an early general election, indicating a shift in stance.

The government, through the de facto law minister, confirmed ongoing studies to assess the FTPA's impact, including stakeholder engagement.

This change in position reflects potential political maneuvering ahead of the 16th General Election.

SEPTEMBER 14 — It wasn’t long ago that a suggestion was made for a new law that would keep the government of the day in office for a full five-year term.

Who made the suggestion?

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

January 13, 2024 – exactly 32 months to this day.

The next day, Project SAMA expressed its support for the suggestion.

The NGO, founded by former Coalition of Free and Fair Elections (Bersih) figures, advocates institutional reform to enhance political stability and accountability in Malaysia.

Project SAMA in fact urged the Government to enact a Fixed Term Parliament Act (FTPA). According to it, FTPA “is both a manifesto promise of PH in GE15 and one of the reforms called for by 33 NGOs and 52 individuals in the 2024 new year message”.

Hours later, Pontian MP and Umno supreme council member Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan threw his support for a proposed law for the federal government to run for a full five-year term without a general election being called earlier.

Then, before even darkness fell on the day, de facto law minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said confirmed that the Government was considering an FTPA and would be conducting an in-depth study, an impact study and obtaining public opinion for the Cabinet to assess its implementation.

“The fixed-term parliamentary system is also practised by many countries to ensure political and economic stability and to prevent any seizure of power that is harmful to the country’s parliamentary democracy,” the minister said in a statement.

Two months later, in a parliamentary reply to a question whether the Government planned to enact an FTPA, Azalina said an in-depth study stage was still being carried out by the Legal Affairs Division, Prime Minister’s Department (BHEUU JPM). The study included an impact study that also took into account the views of the results of engagement sessions with stakeholders and the public regarding the introduction of an FTPA.

Yet on Friday (September 11), Ahmad Zahid, as president of Umno, called for the 16th General Election (GE16) to be held as soon as possible, saying the time had come for Barisan Nasional (BN) to seek a fresh mandate to lead the country.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.

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副首相拿督斯里阿末扎希哈米迪提议制定定期国会法案（FTPA），以确保政府五年任期，得到了马来西亚政治稳定倡导组织“SAMA计划”和其他人士的支持。

然而，尽管最初得到了支持，艾哈迈德·扎希德后来还是呼吁提前举行大选，这表明他的立场发生了转变。

政府通过事实上的法律部长确认，正在进行评估《公平贸易协定》影响的研究，包括利益相关者的参与。

这一立场变化反映了第16届大选前可能出现的政治博弈。

9 月 14 日——不久前，有人提议制定一项新法律，以确保现任政府能够执政满五年。

谁提出的建议？

副首相拿督斯里艾哈迈德扎希德哈米迪。

2024年1月13日——距今正好32个月。

第二天，SAMA 项目组表示支持这一建议。

该非政府组织由前自由公正选举联盟（Bersih）成员创立，倡导体制改革，以增强马来西亚的政治稳定性和问责制。

事实上，SAMA项目敦促政府颁布《定期议会法案》（FTPA）。该项目指出，FTPA“既是希望联盟在第15届全国大选中的竞选承诺，也是33个非政府组织和52位个人在2024年新年致辞中呼吁的改革措施之一”。

几个小时后，笨珍国会议员兼巫统最高理事会成员拿督斯里阿末马斯兰表示支持一项拟议的法律，该法律允许联邦政府在不提前举行大选的情况下完成五年的完整任期。

然后，当天天还没黑，事实上的法律部长拿督斯里阿扎丽娜·奥斯曼·赛义德就证实，政府正在考虑制定《公平贸易协定》，并将进行深入研究、影响研究，并征求公众意见，供内阁评估其实施情况。

这位部长在一份声明中表示：“许多国家也实行定期议会制度，以确保政治和经济稳定，防止任何损害国家议会民主的权力攫取。”

两个月后，在议会答复有关政府是否计划实施《固定税率协议》（FTPA）的质询时，阿扎利娜表示，总理府法律事务司（BHEUU JPM）仍在进行深入研究。该研究包括一项影响评估，其中也考虑了与利益相关者和公众就引入《固定税率协议》进行磋商的结果。

然而，9月11日星期五，巫统主席艾哈迈德·扎希德呼吁尽快举行第16届全国大选（GE16），称国阵（BN）是时候寻求新的授权来领导国家了。

* 这是作者或刊物的个人观点，并不一定代表《马来邮报》的观点。

如果沙巴和砂拉越在马来西亚日之前通过或制定的法律属于州法律，则它们受联邦宪法第75条的约束——哈菲兹·哈桑

缩小马来西亚老年人的数字鸿沟 — Nurul Fardini Zakaria

当希望通过邮寄送达时——吴冠雄

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