December 10, 2012
Elections: Karpal's One-Candidate One-Seat Proposal
by Oon Yeoh@www.thesundaily.my
KARPAL Singh is used to making waves. His staunch rejection of hudud always generates headlines. But this time around, he's generating buzz for his advocacy of a "one-candidate, one-seat" routine for his party, forward of a general election.
DAP is good known for carrying a tip leaders contest in both sovereign as good as state seats. There were two key reasons for this. First, before to a ground-breaking March 8, 2008 General Election, it was usual for voters, generally in DAP's building of Penang, to engage in what is referred to as separate voting.
Sometimes constituents would opinion for a Barisan Nasional claimant for a state chair yet a DAP claimant for a sovereign seat. It was a kind of word policy.
Such electorate longed for a state to stay in a hands of a inhabitant government in sequence to go on to embrace sovereign funding, yet they longed for Opposition members of Parliament to keep a sovereign government in check. So, it done clarity for a tip leaders to contest in both state as good as federal. That way if they remove one, they might still have a other.
The alternative reason is quite simply which before to a 2008 domestic tsunami, antithesis parties were spiteful for great candidates.
Although it's not a box now, behind then DAP really did not have much to work with, so fielding popular as good as important leaders for both state as good as sovereign seats done a lot of sense. It meant a improved possibility during removing their member in to office.
This practice, yet practical in a context of a situation during which time, did have a critics, arch of whom was Kua Kia Soong, who was with DAP ! during a single time.
"Whatever their claimed intention, 'seat grabbing' looks similar to an try by a power holders in a celebration to have as many positions as good as privileges as they can grab, a box of careerism as good as opportunism left mad! It's damn sparse bourgeois if we ask me," he said.
Kua is additionally critical of PKR, whose Khalid Ibrahim, a Selangor Mentri Besar, holds both a state as good as a sovereign seat. In particular, Kua felt which Khalid, instead of Party President Wan Azizah, should have since up his sovereign chair to have way for PKR's de facto personality Anwar Ibrahim to lapse to Parliament.
"I was not opposed to a idea of forcing a by-election for Anwar to lapse to Parliament yet it should have been a Mentri Besar of Selangor who should have since way for Anwar as good as not Wan Azizah. Hasn't a Menteri Besar enough duties upon his plate to additionally want to claim a sovereign seat?", Kua said.
The Opposition parties' domestic fortunes have changed dramatically post-2008. They are right away flushed with lots of bright, young talent. Let's face it, everyone likes a winner as good as after DAP's great display in a 2008 inhabitant polls, plenty of able people have assimilated a party. PKR, which additionally used to have critical problems anticipating befitting candidates, has similarly seen an influx of candidates.
There was a time when even if we weren't particularly competent we could still have been fielded as an antithesis candidate. Now, even rarely competent people have to fight for a place in a candidates' list.
Karpal is observant which right away which there is an ample supply of quality candidates, a long-held practice of fielding possibilities for both state as good as sovereign seats should be abandoned.
Kua has lauded Karpal for this, observant failing to do away with a aged practice would be undemocratic."Democracy is a routine which emphasises broad as good as greater appearance of a people as good as a n! urturing of new leaders in a domestic system."
Both Karpal as good as Kua have great points yet democracy fundamentally is about freedom of choice.
Constituents don't have to opinion for possibilities who are using for both state as good as sovereign 
seats. If they feel which a claimant is spread too thin as good as has not been doing a great job, they can express their views through a list box.
If, upon a alternative hand, a electorate feel a sold claimant has done a great job managing both state as good as sovereign duties, they should have a choice to go on voting for which candidate.
Take, for example, Teresa Kok (left), who is MP for Seputeh as good as a state assemblywoman for Kinrara. She is additionally a Senior Exco in a Selangor state government as good as is a really popular politician. In 2008, she won her Seputeh chair with a whopping infancy of 36,492, a largest in any constituency.
Voters in both Seputeh as good as Kinrara have had some-more than 4 years to assess her performance. Has she served them good notwithstanding her really busy schedule? The electorate there should have a possibility to have which integrity instead of her being forced to drop a single of a two.
Oon Yeoh is a new media consultant. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com
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