PAS’s 23 MPs emerged from a three-day retreat last week, pledging to “shock” Parliament and take on its Barisan Nasional (BN) rivals in a legislative session the Islamist party expects will be the last before possible snap polls.
The party’s lawmakers were huddled together in Vistana Hotel here for three days from last Thursday, plotting over the issues they will raise during this sitting, The Malaysian Insider has learnt.
PAS legislators have, however, refused to offer details when contacted.
“We are ready to face big debates as many have predicted this parliamentary session will be the last.
“Although I personally do not agree (with this view), in forecasting that this is the budget for elections, we have to ready ourselves to face the 13th general election,” Kuala Selangor MP Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad told The Malaysian Insider when contacted yesterday.
Parliament reconvened today and will go on for 43 days until December 12.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is also the finance minister, is scheduled to table Budget 2011 this Friday.
Dzulkefly, who was the director for his party’s inaugural retreat, explained that during the meeting, PAS MPs were briefed by several political analysts and economists who deliberated on the country’s political and economic scenario based on Najib’s administrative policies.
“This session [of Parliament], aside from being the budget session, will also touch on the 10th Malaysia Plan, the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), the New Economic Model (NEM), the Entry Point Projects (EPP) and BIZ Ops… many bombastic terms,” he said.
He said that MPs needed to be ready to face the many challenging debates during the session, especially with the tabling of the 2011 Budget, and several important bills.
“This requires thorough preparation, understanding and a good sharing of information among our MPs.
“PAS, as a responsible party, wants to ensure active involvement in the debates this time,” he said.
This Parliament session will witness the tabling of several bills scheduled for the second and third readings, including the Children and Young Persons (Employment) (Amendment) Bill 2010; Perbadanan Stadium Malaysia Bill 2010; Malaysian Timber Industry Board (Incorporation)(Amendment) Bill 2010; Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Bill 2010; Moneylenders (Amendment) Bill 2010; Valuers, Appraisers and Estate Agents (Amendment) Bill 2010; Employment (Amendment) Bill 2010; and the Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009.
PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub (left) said that the party wanted to ready its MPs to prepare well-crafted strategies in order to be more effective when debating issues in Parliament.
“We have reached a point where there are speculations that this is the last term and meeting session for Parliament before the 13th general election,” he said.
He added that this was why the current session was an important platform for PAS MPs to debate issues more effectively and to touch on all aspects of people’s livelihoods.
“We discussed all issues [in the retreat], whether political, economic and social,” said Salahuddin.
When asked if PAS MPs would cause “shocks” in Parliament with the issues they planned to raise, the Kubang Kerian MP said, “For sure there will be shocks but now is not the time [to reveal the issues].”
His PAS colleague, Datuk Mahfuz Omar said that MPs would likely raise five or six new issues in Parliament.
“Yes, this retreat is a new initiative, we held it for three days… before this, we usually hold our discussions at the pre-council level only and within a short period.
“We took this step because we want to improve the quality of our debates,” he said.
The Pokok Sena MP added that the party wanted to be more dynamic in their debating techniques to ensure that the people understood the issues raised.
“For example, issues on the ETP and the NEM…. people do not really understand the issues,” he said.
Mahfuz, however, disagreed that the retreat was linked to PAS’s early efforts to face the coming general election, but admitted that it may be called as early as March next year.
“We do not know when the Sarawak elections will be held, but if it is not held early, maybe the Sarawak elections and the general election will be held concurrently, between March and June next year,” he said.
PAS’s elections director Datuk Halim Abdul Rahman did not deny that the party would broach the issues of Islamic values and the development of a domestic economy.
“On questions of the ETP, we fail to understand…. it looks weak and not based on a clear model,” he said.
The Pengkalan Chepa MP also said that the party would touch on more thorough economic issues in order to fulfil the needs of all races.
This, he added, was important as PAS was now viewed as a party that fought for the rights of all races.
Tumpat MP and PAS former secretary general Datuk Kamaruddin Jaafar said that the retreat was one of the party’s steps in preparation for the general election.-MalaysianInsider
