The law requires the cabinet to advise the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on when His Majesty is allowed to convene Parliament, said Attorney-General Idrus Harun.
In a statement today, Idrus argued that various cases in the past had established that Article 40(1) and (1A) of the Federal Constitution limited the Agong's use of discretion to very specific circumstances and the convening of Parliament was not one of them.
Idrus argued that although Article 150 conferred powers to the Agong to promulgate ordinances during an emergency, the Privy Council had established in the case of Teh Cheng Poh v PP (1979) 1 MLJ 50 that such powers are only "conferred nominally" and was bound by Article 40 to act on the advice of the cabinet.
Article 40, said Idrus, therefore superseded Paragraph 14(1)(b) of the Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance 2021, which stipulated that Parliament could be "summoned, prorogued and dissolved on a date as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong thinks appropriate".
On June 16, the king and the Conference of Rulers had separately urged Putrajaya to convene Parliament as soon as possible.
The rulers wanted MPs to debate the emergency ordinances and ways of tackling the Covid-19 pandemic.
More than a week later, Putrajaya has not committed to an exact date to do so.
Instead, the speakers of both the upper and lower houses said a "hybrid" sitting - involving in-person and online participation - can take place by the first week of September at the latest.
There is widespread speculation that Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin was trying to delay the convening of Parliament over fears that a sitting will prove that he no longer enjoyed the confidence of the majority of MPs. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.