Dr M: We need a "generous" Opposition to pass Bills needing two-third majority

SUBANG JAYA: If the Opposition is "generous", the Pakatan Harapan goverment can pass the Bills it wants to in the next Parliament session, says Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

On the Pakatan Harapan manifesto promises which the ruling coalition had said it had yet to fulfil, Dr Mahathir said he hoped the Opposition would be "generous enough with their votes in the Dewan Rakyat" to enable a two-third majority for some of the Pakatan Bills.

He said that even full attendance by Pakatan and Parti Warisan Sabah MPs would not be enough to gain the government a two-third majority.

"Where the requirement is for a two-third majority, we hope the Opposition will be generous enough to support.

"When we decided there should be three regions and not 13 states, unfortunately MPs did not support with a two-third majority and we lost that (Bill)," said Dr Mahathir.

He was referring to the recent proposed amendment to Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution that sought to separate Sarawak and Sabah from being listed together with the 11 states of Malaya after the amendment of the Article in 1976.

Had the Bill been passed, the States of the Federation would have been: (a) the States of Malaya, namely Johore, Kedah, Kelantan, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Penang, Perak, Perlis, Selangor and Terengganu; and (b) the Borneo States, namely Sabah and Sarawak.

He said this to the media after attending a retreat between Pakatan Presidential Council members and MPs from Pakatan and Warisan here on Sunday (Oct 6).

The next parliament session of the Dewan Rakyat begins Monday (Oct 7).