M. Kulasegaran: Review "Two Seats for One Candidate" Call

Perak Dap Deputy Chairman M. Kulasegaran is correct to call for a review on a candidate contesting in two seats. In the past, the party was forced to do so due to a lack of credible and capable candidates.

Moreover, when the opposition was on a losing streak not many people are willing to offer themselves as candidates. As a result, we saw a high number of Dap leaders contesting in both parliamentary and state assembly seats.

A number of its top leaders did not only win both their seats but some were given extra responsibility to lead state governments which were captured by the coalition of Dap, PKR and Pas.

It means that most of them are loaded with heavy responsibilities and duties to govern and also to attend parliamentary meetings.

I have spoken to a Dap top leader before and told him to consider contesting just a seat in the next general election. It is simply not possible to focus on two or three portfolios in this era where everything changes at light speed. Policy makers need to keep up with changing trends and must be able to respond quickly to these challenges.

However, it is unfortunate that a number of leaders see competing in both seats as a critical political positioning for their own career.

I remembered asking Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu why he gave up being both a Chief Minister and parliamentarian after 1974. He told me that he could not cope with the responsibility to govern Penang and attend parliamentary sessions at the same time. Since he had promised to bring a new dawn to Penang voters, he had to give up contesting in both seats to focus his attention solely on Penang.

Tun Dr Lim went further to relinquish his party presidency too to focus on his top job.

Politicians must not give the voters a raw deal. They must work within their capacity. It is obvious that politicians from both sides of fence are barely focusing on quality policy debate and governance. How many of them do read up on parliamentary bills or papers before participating in a debate?

How many of our parliamentarians are serious about the issues and challenges facing the nation? How many of them are concerned that Malaysia is no longer attracting foreign investors like before?

How many are capable of participating in a positive and constructive debate on how to reshape and reenergize the economy?

Many of them are only good at playing up racial and religious sentiments for a cheap shot at popularity.

Some observers were right to say that the Malaysian mentality has remained the same despite the better physical development we had achieved.

It is time for politicians to show that they are knowledgeable and capable of address multifarious issues and challenges faced by the nation.

In the next general election, the Dap should not have any reason not to be able to field a quality candidate per seat especially in Penang. We deserve full time parliamentarians and state assemblymen.