Teh: Opposition’s two-term limit for top posts a ploy to fish for votes
GEORGE TOWN: The opposition’s proposal to implement a twoterm limit for the posts of prime minister, chief minister and menteri besar if it comes to power after the 14th General Election is to canvas votes.
DAP’s Tanjung Bungah assemblyman Teh Yee Cheu said the opposition should have implemented the proposal in Penang and Selangor when it came to power.
He said the opposition should make good on its remaining time in power to prepare a working paper on such a proposal and table it at the Penang and Selangor State Legislative Assembly sittings before the next general election.
“The opposition needs to prove its sincerity in implementing the proposal while in power. Why the need to wait until the 14th General Election? Does it really want to implement the proposal or merely canvas votes?
“Implement it first in the two states. Give voters in those states the confidence that it really intends to implement the proposal and prove that it is not empty talk,” he told the New Straits Times Press.
Teh had proposed in the State Legislative Assembly sitting in 2014 that a person may hold the Penang chief ministership for a maximum of two terms. However, it was rejected with mixed reactions from elected representatives.
On March 31, 2016, Teh again raised the motion, but was rejected a second time.
In October, Teh announced his decision to leave the party after the State Legislative Assembly was dissolved, saying he was no longer in sync with the party leadership.
Teh urged voters to gauge the opposition’s sincerity in realising the two-term limit proposal, since it was a recycled idea from an elected representative.
“I had raised it at least four times, but was rejected. As such, I leave it to the voters to judge for themselves.”
Earlier, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng confirmed that the proposal would be implemented only if Pakatan Harapan took over Putrajaya in GE14.
The DAP secretary-general said the implementation of the proposal would not take into account the posts held by leaders now. He said the opposition was prepared to limit the terms for the posts of chief minister and menteri besar if it won at the state level.
“This proposal will be implemented in Penang if we retain power and win with a two-thirds majority. This is because it involves changes to the state constitution.”