KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin appears defiant despite the Istana Negara statement today, with the leader of the current administration saying there is no need to debate the revocation of the emergency ordinances, pointing to a royal audience on Tuesday noon.
In a lengthy statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), he said that he presented the cabinet’s advice and clarification to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong during the audience.
“During this session, the prime minister has once again presented the advice from the cabinet regarding the revocation of the emergency ordinances and made clarifications on the confusion that the opposition tried to trigger in the Dewan Rakyat session.
“The prime minister had informed the government’s view that all ordinances do not need to be revoked by Parliament, seeing that the cabinet has decided to advise His Majesty to revoke it.
“Not only that, this parliamentary session is a special sitting under Standing Order 11(3) of the Dewan Rakyat and its agenda is ministerial briefings, and there are no motions to revoke the emergency ordinances.
“So, the cabinet had decided to advise His Majesty to revoke the ordinances before the special sitting began,” said the statement.
The PMO cited Article 40(1) of the federal constitution that the Agong must act according to the advice of the cabinet.
The statement said the cabinet worked in adherence to the constitution or federal laws – if the Agong is required to act in accordance to advice, upon advice or after considering advice, the Agong must accept and act according to the advice given.
It said consequently, the Agong on Saturday had granted an audience with Law Minister Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan and Attorney-General Tan Sri Idrus Harun who provided a detailed explanation on the government’s advice.
The PMO statement added that all emergency ordinances had been laid out before the Dewan Rakyat in line with Article 150(3) of the federal constitution.
However, it said the opposition MPs have urged the Dewan Rakyat to repeal the emergency ordinances promulgated by the Agong.
PMO added that Takiyuddin had informed the MPs that the government, namely the cabinet, had decided to revoke the emergency ordinances.
“This is a statement of facts that aims to inform the Dewan Rakyat of the real situation in a transparent manner.
“The notification by the minister in the Prime Minister's Department has raised questions about the status of the Agong's consent to the Emergency (Repeal) Ordinance 2021.”
It said the prime minister and attorney-general had sought an audience with the Agong at noon two days ago to explain the situation.
“During the audience, the prime minister had again provided the advice of the cabinet about the revocation of the emergency ordinances while explaining any confusion that was attempted to be raised by the opposition during the Dewan Rakyat sitting.
“The government is of the view that all actions taken were done in an orderly manner and in accordance with the provisions of the law and the federal constitution.”
The PMO statement appears at odds with an earlier statement by Istana Negara in which the Agong reprimanded Law Minister Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan over his Monday statement on the emergency proclamation and its ordinances, saying it was “inaccurate” and “misled lawmakers in the Dewan Rakyat”.
Comptroller of the Royal Household Datuk Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin said the Yang Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah asserted that the application to revoke the emergency ordinances, backdated to July 21, was “hastily made without presenting it in Parliament”, and that “the contradictory and misleading statement in Parliament failed to respect the principle of the rule of law in the Rukun Negara”.
This “disregarded His Majesty’s functions and powers as the head of state, as enshrined in the federal constitution”.
“To this, His Majesty expresses great disappointment over the statement made on July 26 (Monday) that the government has revoked all emergency ordinances promulgated by His Majesty, although the revocation has not yet been given royal assent.” – The Vibes, July 29, 2021
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