Shahrir slams AG, says democratic system will be chaotic if he remains

 

Shahrir Samad (left) said Attorney-General Idrus Harun had earlier also interpreted that the government had the powers to repeal the emergency ordinances.

PETALING JAYA: Umno veteran Shahrir Samad has slammed Attorney-General Idrus Harun’s contention that the prime minister should not have to go through a confidence motion in the Dewan Rakyat.

He accused Perikatan Nasional of upholding a political philosophy which followed its own whims and not the spirit of the Constitution. “It is still alive and well, even though the prime minister has changed … simply because of an attorney-general who does not hold firm to the spirit of parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy.”

Idrus had said yesterday that there was no need for Ismail to table a confidence vote in the Dewan Rakyat as it would infringe on what he called the “absolute power of the King”, adding that this was also not in line with the Federal Constitution.

Shahrir, a former long-serving Johor Bahru MP, said Idrus’s contention should come as no surprise as Idrus had not voiced any objections to Parliament being suspended when the state of emergency was announced in January and had failed to respond to queries by former Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker Azalina Othman Said.

He noted Idrus’s opinion was that the government had the power to do so because the Yang di-Pertuan Agong was required to act on the advice of the Cabinet.

Shahrir said this then led to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong rebuking law minister Takiyuddin Hassan and Idrus for misleading the Dewan Rakyat. Takiyuddin was reported to have told the Dewan Rakyat on July 26 that all the emergency ordinances had been revoked as of July 21.

However Takiyuddin said the government had only decided to cancel them under Article 153 of the Federal Constitution, while the Yang di-Pertuan Agong stated that he had yet to consent to the revocation at the time. - FMT