DAP man takes swipe at BN after trio miss term limit vote

2026-03-03 - 02:33

Rasah MP Cha Kee Chin said PH had double the number of MPs BN had but was capable of ensuring full attendance. (Facebook pic) PETALING JAYA: A DAP MP has taken a swipe at Barisan Nasional (BN), three of whose MPs missed the vote on the bill to limit the prime minister’s tenure which fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday. Rasah MP Cha Kee Chin mocked BN’s apparent aspirations to contest 115 parliamentary seats in the next general election (GE16), describing these as audacious when the coalition could not even control its 30 current MPs. “Even with just 30 MPs, you could not ensure full attendance. Three of them were absent during a crucial vote (that required a two-thirds majority). “(Pakatan Harapan) has 79 MPs but was capable of ensuring full attendance. We were all present because we respect the people’s mandate and support institutional reforms,” he said in a Facebook post. The Dewan Rakyat failed to pass the constitutional amendment to limit the prime minister’s tenure which fell two votes shy of the required two-thirds majority of 148 MPs. Deputy speaker Alice Lau later revealed that eight MPs from the government bloc were absent during the vote. A source told FMT that the government MPs included Umno’s Hishammuddin Hussein (Sembrong) and Suhaimi Nasir (Libaran), as well as MIC deputy president M Saravanan (Tapah). Cha, a two-term MP, challenged BN to contest all 222 parliamentary seats in GE16, saying it was the coalition’s right to contest as many seats as it liked. “Just sign the watikah (appointment letter of candidates) for 222 candidates. We have no problem,” the Negeri Sembilan DAP secretary added. Cha was referring to a Malaysiakini report quoting sources as saying that BN intends to contest at least 115 parliamentary seats in GE16 to enable the coalition to lead the federal government. They said the goal was to get rid of the perception that BN was a “second player” behind PH in the unity government by winning more seats than the coalition led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.