Answer now on EO revocation fiasco, not Monday, demand MPs

 

After Takiyuddin Hassan disclosed that the emergency ordinances had been revoked as of July 21, Gobind Singh Deo says it should have been approved by the King and not the Cabinet.

KUALA LUMPUR: As opposition MPs angrily demanded that de facto law minister Takiyuddin Hassan explain the sudden revocation of the emergency ordinances on July 21, the minister said he was merely following the Speaker’s ruling that the matter be explained on Monday.

Takiyuddin said that was the ruling made by Speaker Azhar Azizan Harun yesterday.

“The Speaker had made a ruling to ask the law minister to explain the matter on Monday. So I am bound by his instructions,” he told the Dewan Rakyat while the MPs continued demanding for an explanation today.

They demanded that Takiyuddin answer if the Yang di-Pertuan Agong was presented with the revocation request and had agreed to the matter.

Fahmi Fadzil (PH-Lembah Pantai) questioned the logic of waiting until Monday as people were still being compounded for breaching the ordinances.

“Who is going to pay their compound fines?” he asked.

Anwar Ibrahim (PH-Port Dickson) said the government should be honest and own up if it had not presented the revocation request to the King.

“The minister could have said it was in the process of being presented. Isn’t this easier? Why wait till Monday?” he asked.

He said the government should just admit if it had made a mistake.

“Just admit it. If not, there will not be any confidence in the leadership of this government,” Anwar added.

Earlier, Gobind Singh Deo (PH-Puchong) demanded Takiyuddin explain the matter, citing Standing Order 14(1)(g).

Gobind said the Dewan Rakyat was informed yesterday that the government had revoked the emergency ordinances, but he argued that this should be done by the King rather than the executive.

Yesterday, Takiyuddin dropped a bombshell with his revelation that the emergency ordinances had been revoked since July 21.

RSN Rayer (PH-Jelutong), meanwhile, said lawyers in Penang told him that court cases involving those found breaching the emergency ordinances were ongoing.

“They (accused) have not been told of the revocation,” he said, adding that some of the cases involved compounds of RM10,000.

“Do they still need to attend trial?” he asked. - FMT