Parliament’s opening - a royal rebuke?

 

Last week, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong chaired a special meeting of the Malay rulers at Istana Negara after granting audiences to political leaders the week before.

After the meeting of the Malay Rulers, Istana Negara issued a statement stating, amongst others, the Agong’s view that Parliament should reconvene as soon as possible.

The Keeper of the Ruler’s Seal also issued a statement after the meeting which stated that the Malay rulers took the view that the checks and balance mechanism between the three branches of the state namely the executive, legislature and judiciary must be respected. 

As such, the Malay rulers support the view of the Agong that Parliament should resume as soon as possible.

The Malay rulers also took note that the procedures of legislative sitting in other countries had been proven to be able to allow the legislative to go on even during the Covid-19 pandemic and such procedures should be adopted here in Malaysia.

To recap, in January after the proclamation of emergency was issued, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong promulgated the Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance of 2021 upon advice of the government. The ordinance suspended the sitting of Parliament and the state legislative assemblies while the emergency is in place.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin

However, as rightly opined by the Agong in a statement earlier, Parliament could convene during the emergency if summoned by the king. There are differing views as to whether the Agong could, by his own prerogative, summon a Parliamentary sitting without the advice of the prime minister.

Some argue that since Article 40 has not been expressly suspended by the Emergency Ordinance, the article is still binding and the Agong must act on advice. Others say that the wording of the ordinance appears to depart from Article 40, therefore the Agong has the prerogative to summon Parliament.

Rule with impunity

Despite the differing views, it would appear that the king would not want to precipitate a constitutional crisis by summoning Parliament without the advice of the prime minister. And so, the nation turns to the government and again, finds it lacking.

The prime minister has said before this that he promised Parliament would reconvene in September at the earliest. This has been used by the de facto law minister, Takiyuddin Hassan, to argue that the Agong did not give a deadline for Parliament to reconvene and therefore September, which is three months from now, constitutes "as soon as possible".

Meanwhile, the prime minister himself has said that a committee will be formed to ‘look into’ the reopening of Parliament.

All these excuses and feet dragging shows that there is no political will from the government to convene Parliament despite the statements from Istana Negara and the Keeper of the Ruler’s Seal.

Covid-19 did not appear overnight. We have been living with this pandemic for more than a year. A proactive government would have already looked into a "hybrid sitting" last year. 

A government that respects the rule of law and the separation of powers would have ensured that the checks and balance inherent within our constitutional framework would not be disturbed. An effective government would not need a public rebuke by the Malay rulers.

Unfortunately, we do not have a proactive, effective government that upholds our constitutional structure. Instead, we have a government in omnishambles, contented to rule with impunity by way of an emasculated legislative chamber. - Mkini

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

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