Come judge your reps’ performance, Penang watchdog tells public
A new watchdog group that monitors and evaluates the performance of elected reps in the Penang assembly is urging more people to join its project.
The Penang Citizen Assembly Watch (Pemantau), which monitored the recent assembly sitting from November 10 to 14, only had 16 participants.
As a result, the results gathered from the 16 could not be released because the findings were "disproportionate" with too few respondents, said group coordinator Chin How Zet.
"We need more respondents to evaluate the assemblymen to produce better results. We realise that 16 people cannot represent the general public's opinion on how well the elected reps were performing in the house.
"Those who had taken part in the first evaluation also did not really understand the entire process of the state assembly. This is why we are not making the results public," Chin said at a press conference today.
He said said Pemantau wanted to assess the assemblymen's performance and, at the same time, provide a benchmark for their performance.
He said the project was important because it could help improve the performance of the assemblymen when they debated on issues of public interest.
He said Pemantau would also organise forums for participants so they could understand the workings of the state assembly better and evaluate the assemblymen.
He said the group hoped to get more respondents to take part in the next sitting, which would be in about six months.
Chin said evaluating 16 Pakatan Rakyat backbenchers and 10 Barisan Nasional opposition lawmakers over five days may not be sufficient to judge their performance.
During the sitting earlier this month, Pemantau respondents monitored and evaluated the reps based on the number of questions they asked, their attendance and the time and quality of their debate on various issues.
Pemantau was formed by the Penang Youth Parliament 2014 organising committee to educate the public on the different roles of backbenchers, opposition and the state executive at the state legislative assembly.
Those interested in joining the watchdog group can visit their Facebook page "Pemantau DUN Rakyat Pulau Pinang" for details.
The Penang assembly is known to be a “fiery” place where reps from both sides of the divide trade barbs during debates.
The most controversial incident occurred in May this year when Seri Delima rep R.S.N. Rayer uttered "celaka Umno" (Umno be damned) and sparked a protest outside the building the next day. During the protest, a group of men broke through the gate, slipped passed security and intruded into the house. – November 28, 2014.
