Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor has expressed bewilderment over former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s apology for curtailing the Yang Dipertuan Agong’s powers.
He added Mahathir was also the premier who gave a guarantee for Internet freedom, but he then came to regret it.
“I don’t understand Mahathir. When he did that, he told us to support him. Now when it sees that this is not in his favour, he said he was wrong.
“Back then, he was also the one who agreed to provide for Internet freedom. When he found out that the Internet brings all kinds of problems, he said he was mistaken.
“I don’t understand. Let him be in his own world, okay? I don’t want to get involved,” he told reporters in Putrajaya today.
He was asked to comment on Mahathir’s blog post last Thursday, where the former premier apologised for making constitutional amendments so that royal assent is no longer needed to pass legislation into law.
This is in light of the gazetting of the National Security Act 2016 without royal assent. The law grants emergency-like powers to a committee headed by the prime minister, which can be invoked without consent of the Agong.
Previously in setting up the Multimedia Super Corridor during the late-1990’s, Mahathir had famously offered guarantees against internet censorship in a bid to draw foreign investment.
In 2013 after he had stepped down from office however, he had expressed second thoughts about offering the guarantee, saying that it has led to abuses.
Meanwhile, having expressed puzzlement over Mahathir’s actions, Tengku Adnan said what was important was that the government continues to champion the people’s interests.
“We will try to solve all of the people’s problems. The people need to be with the government to ensure that the people would get the comforts of life.
“We in government will continue with what we have set out to do,” he said. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.