Be responsible lawmakers, don't be bias, veteran politician tells T'ganu state reps

KUALA TERENGGANU: There should not be any bias on the part of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) assemblymen in Terengganu if there are flaws in the state administration now that there is no opposition voice in the state legislative assembly,

Veteran politician Tengku Sri Paduka Raja Tengku Ibrahim Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah said although the elected representatives were all from the same coalition, they must be bold enough to voice their views in the interest of the people.

In the just concluded state election, PN made a clean sweep of all 32 seats up for grabs, with P winning 27 and Bersatu taking five, making it the first time since Independence that Terengganu has no opposition in its legislative assembly.

"It is always good to have opposition in the state assembly, but we have now seen the opposite happening. How can we have good debates now because normally it is the Opposition who raises problems that affect the masses.

"When there is no Opposition, we fear that the people's concerns will not be heard, and no views could be put across," the former assemblyman told Bernama here today.

Tengku Ibrahim, who was elected assemblyman for Tanggol (Hulu Terengganu) in 1990 said the Terengganu lawmakers should not blindly back the state administration, and instead be responsible assemblymen and carry out their duties without fear or favour.

Meanwhile, Datuk Seri Ahmad Said, the Terengganu Barisan Nasional chairman said BN, despite its 'absence' in the assembly this time around, will come up with effective strategies to voice out people-related issues.

"We are now in a cooling off period...we are assessing the situation, insya-Allah we will be announcing the appropriate plans to be taken," he said.

-- BERNAMA