Dewan must sit despite major constitutional crisis, says Kit Siang

 

Lim Kit Siang says many questions will emerge if the King does not give his royal assent to annul the emergency ordinances. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: There is no reason why Parliament should not meet on Monday despite the huge uncertainty on whether the Cabinet’s decision on July 21 to annul the emergency ordinances will receive the royal assent before midnight today, says DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang.

“With the end of the Emergency tomorrow, a new scenario emerges, along with many questions.

“If there is no royal assent by midnight, and the six emergency ordinances continue to be in force for six months, can Parliament annul them? Will Parliament be sitting on Monday?” asked the Iskandar Puteri MP in a statement today.

He said with no clear answers now, there is no reason why the Dewan Rakyat should not meet as scheduled on Monday as it will ensure democracy and the doctrine of separation of powers are still alive in Malaysia.

Lim said Malaysia is in uncharted waters facing a constitutional crisis which was definitely not envisaged by the founding fathers of the nation who wrote the Federal Constitution.

“They provided the bedrock principles of good governance based on constitutional monarchy guided by parliamentary democracy and the doctrine of the separation of powers among the executive, legislature and the judiciary.”

Lim said on top of a major constitutional crisis, Malaysia had worsened further in handling the Covid-19 pandemic, overtaking four countries to be ranked number 27 among nations with the most number of cases.

“So was the Emergency a success in its intended objective? Obviously not,” he said. - FMT