Remaining MoU demands will be resolved, says Wan Junaidi

 

Law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar says the government needs to be careful with a constitutional amendment to limit the prime minister’s tenure.

PETALING JAYA: Law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar has assured Pakatan Harapan (PH) that the government would resolve three remaining demands in the political agreement between the prime minister and PH.

The demands include a limit of 10 years on the prime minister’s tenure.

He said Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob himself had given an assurance that pending matters in the MoU will be looked into.

However, the proposed term limit would need to be refined by getting the views and advice of the attorney-general because it involved constitutional amendments.

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“In addition, the government also needs to be careful (pertaining to the prime minister’s appointment) because the appointment is made with the approval of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong,” he said. “It cannot be arbitrarily amended,” Berita Harian quoted him as saying.

PH said yesterday that the government must resolve three more matters stipulated in its agreement with Ismail.

The opposition coalition also demanded that a Parliamentary Services Bill be presented to Parliament, and amendments made to parliamentary standing orders to ensure that Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara proceedings would run more smoothly.

Wan Junaidi said the three items in the MoU still required amendments.

Regarding the transformation of Parliament, he said the matter has not yet been implemented, but there are several matters that need to be resolved by the government and Parliament.

“It is not an easy matter as it involves government agencies, changes in the administration implemented so far. This needs to be resolved by Parliament and the government before the bill can be made by the ministry and the Attorney General’s Chambers,” he said.

However, he said that once the matter had been agreed upon at the Parliamentary level, it could be resolved quickly.

“In principle, we have agreed, but at the implementation stage there are many obstacles, not only from a constitutional point of view but also from a legal point of view.” - FMT