Political observer says reps serving more than 2 terms should be monitored

MIRI: Local political observer Wan Zain Syed Mohdzar agreed with the suggestion by Semop assemblyman Abdullah Saidol that the Key Performance Index ( KPI) of people’s representatives or ‘wakil rakyat’ who have served for more than two terms should be reviewed to ensure that they are still capable of serving the people, just like when they were first elected.

Telling The Borneo Post recently that the suggestion deserved to be carried out, he said: “Wakil rakyat who fail to achieve a satisfactory KPI and spends very little time with the people at the grassroots level should be dropped from the State Legislative Assembly.”

He said he was aware that some people’s representatives who had served for two terms were not active and only appeared during election period to defend their seats.

“Today’s community are the new generation of people who will review the performance of wakil rakyat in their area, and if the wakil rakyat is hardly seen on the ground, there is a big possibility that they will kick him or her out,” he said.

He said it had become a trend by some ‘wakil rakyat’ to send their representatives to events and programmes without valid reason.

“They should be reminded that they are elected by the people; if they do not provide satisfactory services they will be changed during election,” he stressed.

At the same time, Wan Zain also suggested that a merit and demerit system for elected representatives be put in place so that those who do not achieve the expected KPI can be slapped with disciplinary action.

“This is also to remind wakil rakyat that they have pledged to serve the people and if they fail, they should be disciplined,” he said.

Apart from the people’s representatives, Wan Zain said the performance of political secretaries to the chief minister should also be monitored and they should be reminded of their roles and responsibility.