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Nazir Razak: Signatories not guaranteed spot on Better Malaysia Assembly platform

Tan Sri Nazir Razak has clarified certain misperceptions on his letter to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah on the formation of a Better Malaysia Assembly (BMA) to reboot the Malaysian political system. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa
Tan Sri Nazir Razak has clarified certain misperceptions on his letter to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah on the formation of a Better Malaysia Assembly (BMA) to reboot the Malaysian political system. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 29 — Tan Sri Nazir Razak has clarified certain misperceptions on his letter to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah on the formation of a Better Malaysia Assembly (BMA) to reboot the Malaysian political system.

Nazir — brother of convicted Datuk Seri Najib Razak — said he has gone through all the negative and positive comments on the idea, but felt that he needed to clarify certain aspects of the BMA proposal to avoid any confusion.

“I refer to the various comments, both in support and against, the proposal to set up the Better Malaysia Assembly (BMA).

“I welcome them all. Nevertheless, in the interest of keeping the discourse as constructive as possible, I would like to clarify some misperceptions about the BMA and the letter to His Majesty Yang di-Pertuan Agong dated October 28, 2021,” he said in a statement.

He said that the letter for the formation of the BMA had 55 signatories on it, but explained that not all of them are confirmed to be members of the platform.

“The letter makes clear that the selection of members of the BMA should be undertaken via a process involving the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, as well as civil society.

“This process should result in a membership that is representative of Malaysian society,” he said.

Nazir said that the BMA is a platform for deliberative democracy, which has become an important aspect of many other democracies from around the world.

“A recent OECD survey highlighted that 289 of such platforms have been employed in various countries to help governments and parliaments address complex structural issues.

“As such the BMA is a platform that will work within the Malaysian democratic process,” he said.

He added that the signatories comprise a diverse group of prominent Malaysians from different backgrounds, adding that while he welcomes the support of politicians and political parties, the BMA will be maintained as an independent project.

“As Malaysia faces some of its most challenging moments in our history, I believe we will do our country and future generations a disservice if we do not give proposals such as the BMA due and careful consideration,” he said.

Nazir had sent a letter to the Agong and the Conference of Rulers on October 29 to propose the formation of the BMA platform to reset national policies.

The letter was endorsed by the likes of Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, former deputy prime minister Tun Musa Hitam, actor Harith Iskander, former Inspector-general of the police Tun Mohammed Hanif Omar and Undi18 co-founder Nur Qyira Yusri.

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