By Wilfred Pilo
KUCHING, May 10: Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) Women wing is supportive of suggestions made in the just-concluded State Legislative Assembly sitting that the state should enact a Referendum Ordinance.
Its chief, Kho Teck Wan, opined that such legislation represented a good way for the government to gauge what Sarawakians want.
But she was quick to point out that a referendum did not mean a platform for the people to vote whether to secede from Malaysia or things deemed seditious and dangerous to the stability of the country.
It should be thought of as something where Sarawakians could fall back on to tell the government what they wanted in terms of, say, infrastructure development, how state revenue should be used or what the minimum age for marriage should be.
“In Taiwan, they used a referendum to decide if gays or lesbians get to stay in the same house or if the government should recognise gay or lesbian marriages.
“So, the referendum itself can be used widely for a lot of issues, especially when the government is in a dilemma or don’t how to decide over a particular matter,” she told a press conference at SUPP headquarters here today.
SUPP Women advisor Datin Jennifer Chee Moinie was present. — DayakDaily
