PH legal committee slams ‘appalling, contemptuous’ PMO statement to king

KUALA LUMPUR – Pakatan Harapan’s legal committee has slammed yesterday’s statement by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), which appeared to challenge the press release from Istana Negara over the revocation of the emergency ordinances earlier in the day.

In a statement, today, the committee said the PMO has, in a futile exercise to defend the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government, committed gross misconduct in an “appalling and contemptuous” manner.

“Firstly, the PMO’s statement in seeking to justify the wrongful actions by providing a purported chronology, suggests that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong misrepresented the facts in the Istana Negara statement. 

“This is in an affront to the royal institution and to the Agong himself,” the committee said.

The PMO statement, the committee pointed out, is misleading because it failed to admit that Law Minister Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan as the cabinet’s representative and Tan Sri Idrus Harun as attorney-general were instructed by the Agong to table the emergency proclamation and its ordinances for debate and voting in Parliament. 

“The truth and the fact of the matter is that the cabinet has willfully and deliberately treated the Agong’s instructions with total disdain by failing to act as instructed. 

“This is disobedience at the most serious level.”

The committee also pointed out that the PMO’s statement in referring to Article 40(1) of the federal constitution to say that the Agong is required to act in accordance with the advice of the cabinet has wrongfully treated the king as a mere rubber stamp or mouthpiece of the cabinet.

“This without even giving scant respect to the Agong’s position as a symbol of stability, national unity and guardian of the constitution.”

The cabinet’s interpretation, the committee stated, on Article 150(3) is satisfied by having the proclamation of emergency and the emergency ordinances being “laid” on MPs’ table, and was very dishonest.

“This argument fails to give effect to the words: ‘A proclamation of emergency and any ordinance shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament... shall cease to have effect if resolutions are passed by both Houses annulling such proclamation or ordinance.’

“There must be debate and voting for the upper and lower houses to pass a resolution.”

The words “if not sooner revoked” in Article 150(3), the committee stated meant that the Parliament may by resolution annul the emergency proclamation and its ordinances when a Parliament is convened if both have not been revoked before the sitting.

“Takiyuddin misled Parliament and the public when he announced that the emergency proclamation and its ordinances had been revoked on July 21 when this was not true. 

“Only the Agong can revoke the proclamation and ordinances and the revocation can only take effect when it is gazetted, which has not been done. 

“Again, the prime minister and the cabinet are collectively responsible because not one of them corrected the misstatement from July 26 (Monday) to July 29 (yesterday) until Istana Negara issued the statement.

In the circumstances, the committee added that the PN administration should resign after committing serious breaches and misconduct.  – The Vibes, July 30, 2021