No Parliament, no legislative scrutiny

 

Deputy Dewan Rakyat speaker, Azalina Othman Said has made available a letter that she sent to the Attorney-General Idrus Harun dated Feb 17, 2021.

In the said letter, she spoke out against what she described as the "emasculation" of Parliament by the executive.

In the letter, the Pengerang MP said she was ‘bewildered’ why Malaysia was either unable or refused to employ means to facilitate Parliament sittings like other countries, such as reducing the number of MPs present, having flexible sitting hours and broadcasting chamber proceedings.

She also said that by suspending Parliament, there was now no mechanism by which the executive can be held accountable for its decisions during the current health crisis. 

The executive, according to her, appears to have “free rein” over the affairs of the country during the emergency.

As we all know, in January it was announced that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, on the advice of the prime minister, had proclaimed a declaration of emergency due to the Covid-19 pandemic in Malaysia.

Later on, an Emergency Ordinance was promulgated, again on the advice of the government, with several provisions including suspending Parliament and the various state legislative assemblies.

Early on, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Azhar Azizan Harun had said that while the emergency was in place, the responsibilities of members of Parliament (MPs) as elected representatives will remain unchanged as the suspension of parliamentary sessions did not mean that Parliament had been dissolved.

The former Elections Commission chairperson also said that “[…] all activities of any caucus or all party parliamentary groups as well as all special select committees that have been established, can still be continued […]”, while the emergency was in place.

Putrajaya, the seat of the executive

However, Azalina’s letter appeared to suggest that the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) had a different opinion. According to Azalina, the AGC has advised the government that all activities of committees established in Parliament, including special select committees, can no longer continue even if conducted virtually.

If this advice is accepted by the government, it would mean that there is absolutely no scrutiny by the legislature on executive action. 

Since actions taken by the executive pursuant to an Emergency Ordinance is precluded from a challenge in court, it would also mean that the executive would become the most powerful institution during this emergency, without any checks and balance on its powers.

This goes against the principle of separation of powers which is the basis of our constitutional structure. The Federal Constitution ensures that no institution would have absolute or unchecked powers.

The government has already announced that elected representatives would be amongst the first recipients of the Covid-19 vaccine. Thus, the possibility of Covid-19 infection through Parliamentary proceedings would be minimal, if not eradicated completely. There is, therefore, absolutely no reason why Parliament should be suspended.

In fact, many have questioned the need for the emergency to even continue. On Twitter, when it was reported that the prime minister said that the emergency ordinance had not been used because cooperation was given by the private sector, many asked why the government did not approach the private sector before the prime minister advised the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to declare the emergency.

These are pertinent questions, and thus far the government has not been able to provide a satisfactory answer. As Parliament has been suspended, the government cannot be compelled to answer.

We are hit by a health crisis, an economic crisis as well as a crisis in education. There is a pressing need for Parliament to play its constitutionally mandated role to ensure that the executive is not given a "blank cheque" to act as it pleases. 

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SYAHREDZAN JOHAN is a civil liberties lawyer and political secretary to Iskandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siang. - Mkini

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.