Abolition of NSC Act being examined

PARLIAMENT | De facto law minister VK Liew said the government is still examining the abolition of the National Security Council (NSC) Act 2016.

“The government is still examining whether this Act should be abolished or not,” Liew said during his winding up of the debate on the royal decree in the Dewan Rakyat today.

He was responding to a question from Ramkarpal Singh (Harapan-Bukit Gelugor), who had asked if the government would abolish the “draconian” act as it puts too much power in the hands of the prime minister, such as the power to declare an emergency.

Liew said the power to declare an emergency does not rest solely in the hands of the prime minister, but that it is also subject to the approval of the other members of the council such as the deputy prime minister, the defence minister, the communications and multimedia minister, the inspector-general of police and Malaysian Armed Forces chief.

However, Ramkarpal pointed out that Pakatan Harapan had promised in its election manifesto that it would abolish the act and questioned the need to study whether to abolish it or not.

The 27th promise of the manifesto states that the Pakatan Harapan government will revoke the NSC Act as it is one of the “tyrannical” laws enacted by Umno and BN.

Liew said a committee will be formed to handle issues on reforms including the study of draconian laws.

“I am confident the promises in the manifesto will be fulfilled by the government, so give us some time to examine the situation, especially the NSC Act.

“When it comes to security issues of the country, we will examine all aspects to ensure our country’s safety is not compromised,” he said.

Previously, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had repeatedly condemned the NSC Act which was enacted under the administration of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Mahathir had also expressed concern before the 14th general election that Najib might invoke the powers of the NSC Act to avoid handing over power if BN was defeated.

Although there were rumours that Najib had an NSC meeting on the night of May 9, the former premier has since denied holding any such meeting. -Mkini