DAP remained committed to ensuring the reforms were implemented without further delay, with the bills to be passed before the end of this year.
PETALING JAYA: DAP’s decision to remain in the Federal Government comes with a demand for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s administration to deliver key institutional reforms by the end of the year.
DAP national chairman Gobind Singh Deo said the decisive vote by DAP delegates at the party’s national congress yesterday should now be followed by “urgent and concrete steps” to implement its core institutional and economic reform agenda.
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“I urge the Prime Minister to take immediate action to realise these reforms.
“There must be clear, unyielding timelines set for foundational institutional reforms,” he said in a statement today.
He said the priorities included accelerating legislation to separate the roles of the Attorney-General and Public Prosecutor, limiting the Prime Minister’s tenure to two terms, and amending the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma) and the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA).
“The groundwork for these changes has already been laid,” he said, adding that both the proposed Attorney-General-Public Prosecutor separation Bill and the two-term limit for prime ministers had been prepared.
Gobind said a ministerial statement on proposed Sosma amendments had also been tabled in Parliament in February last year, while amendments to the PAA had been under discussion for months.
“We must finalise and table them without any further delays,” he said.
His statement came a day after DAP delegates voted overwhelmingly to remain in Anwar’s unity government until the end of the current parliamentary term.
Of the 2,099 valid ballots cast, 1,857 delegates voted to remain in government while 242 voted against, with 88% backing continued participation.
Gobind said the government’s recent decision to hold a special parliamentary sitting on the Royal Commission of Inquiry report into Tabung Haji showed that similar measures could be taken to expedite the reform agenda.
“The government had acted with speed by holding a special parliamentary session for the RCI report on Tabung Haji.
“A similar route ought to be taken for these crucial reform bills, or additional sitting days must be added to the upcoming Dewan Rakyat session specifically dedicated to these,” he said.
He said DAP remained committed to ensuring the reforms were implemented without further delay, with the bills to be passed before the end of this year.
