Forming government via statutory declarations is not the way to go, Bersih says

SHAH ALAM - The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) urges for the coalition government to be formed through party-to-party negotiations and not through collection of statutory declarations (SD).

The Bersih steering committee said this in response to Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun call for party leaders to submit statutory declarations (SD) of MPs who were willing to support to a Prime Minister candidate to form the new government.

Bersih stressed that it has been proven in the past that the use of SD to form the government will only cause failure and instability of the politics in the nation.

“The Speaker should know that the use of SDs for the formation of government has been proven to be a failure again and again, contributing to much instability over the years.

“A parliamentary government is a government based on a common governance programme, not a bunch of individual MPs supporting a common PM candidate, whether or not in exchange for positions.

“It is unreasonable that party leaders are rushed into deals before all their MPs have the chance to deliberate and be heard. No timeline should be set for this important process,” they said in a statement, today.

Bersih added that there is a need for a slow and steady process in establishing the new government in order to avoid the nation from facing endless political machinations in the next few years.

They said the only way to achieve a sustainable and stable government is through carefully negotiated agreement between the political parties.

“The signing of the MOU for Political Stability and Transformation in Parliament by the Ismail Sabri government with Pakatan Harapan (PH) in September 2021 that restored political stability should be emulated in the current situation and enough time should be given to all parties,” the statement read.

Bersih remarked that what the nation badly needs right now is a functioning government to overcome the crisis of economy, environment and endemic, hence internal fighting between government partners will only add fuel to the fire.