KUALA LUMPUR – The latest proclamation of emergency has set a dangerous precedent, in that it can be whipped up again in the future during situations where requisite conditions under the federal constitution are not met.
Asserting this, 10 former Bar Council presidents, in a joint statement today, noted that the proclamation on January 11 expressly relies on the Covid-19 pandemic as a threat to “security, economic life or public order” in the country.
Failing any other ground, this is hardly a legitimate reason for an emergency, particularly in light of the reach of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 and movement controls to contain the disease, they said.
They also noted that most businesses continue to function, albeit under very challenging conditions.
“It is incumbent on any responsible government to avoid seeking such a proclamation, save for the most extreme of circumstances. Do these circumstances exist here?”
The statement is signed by Steven Thiru, Christopher Leong, Ragunath Kesavan, Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, Datuk Yeo Yang Poh, Datuk Kuthubul Zaman, Datuk Mah Weng Kwai, Datuk Cyrus V. Das, Zainur Zakaria and Datuk Param Cumaraswamy.
Besides the proclamation itself, they said, more alarming is the Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance 2021 that has been promulgated and gazetted, giving the government unrestricted powers over person and property.
Its most egregious provision is the suspension of parliamentary and state assembly sittings, which has no justifiable reason, they said.
The group said the move is unconstitutional, and only insulates the executive from accountability.
“A proclamation and any ordinances promulgated must be tabled in Parliament under Article 150(3) of the constitution. This is for Parliament to exercise its constitutional power of scrutiny of the government.
“Both Houses may pass resolutions annulling the proclamation and ordinances. There is, therefore, a guarantee that Parliament will continue to function during the emergency, as it did under previous emergencies.
“The (current) ordinance deprives Parliament of this critical constitutional power of checks and balances. It denies our democracy.”
They added that other measures in the ordinance directly related to the pandemic are achievable through other means, and called for the immediate tabling of the emergency proclamation and ordinance in Parliament. – The Vibes, January 17, 2021
