Former Cabinet Minister Tan Sri Sanusi Junid has confirmed that he will attend with former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohamad the meeting in Parliament on Tuesday of Members of Parliament (including former MPs and Ministers) to discuss the country’s latest constitutional crisis on the doctrine of separation of powers and how to defend Parliament and MPs’ parliamentary privileges and immunities against insidious police encroachments.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said yesterday that “3 ex-ministers under probe over 1MDB statements” (New Straits Times 5/11/06 headline p. 10) and this is most shocking for two reasons:
Firstly, when did the police have free roving liberty to investigate speeches by MPs (whether former Minister or not) made in Parliament, as if MPs’s traditional and constitutionally-entrenched parliamentary privileges spelt out in Article 63 (2) of the Malaysian Constitution and the Houses of Parliament (Privileges and Powers) Act 1952 do not exist in the eyes of the IGP.
Should MPs submit their speeches to the police for approval before they are delivered in Parliament. Is this what Malaysia has become, in the eighth year of premiership of Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak?
Secondly, is the IGP through his arbitrary and unconstitutional action sending out a message that 1MDB issue is a “banned” subject in Parliament, as MPs who raised the issue of 1MDB in Parliament could be next in line of police’s interrogation when the three ex-Cabinet Ministers could be targeted by the police for speaking in Parliament on 1MDB?
Khalid’s statement yesterday has laid bare the frightening and even Kafkaesque nature of the constitutional crisis on the doctrine of separation of powers among the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary which has been suddenly sprung on the nation when he said that the police had enough reasons to investigate former Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, former Rural and Regional Development Minister, Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal and former Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah as there was no immunity from seditious statements in Parliament.
Khalid has not made any correction of this erroneous statement in the 24/7 world of information technology, and if the IGP is right, then there is no rule of law or constitutional government leftl in Malaysia by only a police and a lawless state presided over by the Prime Minister of the land.
Khalid should know that what he said is the not the law of the law as at present as even a first-year law student would know that the IGP is not being a loyal guardian of the law!
I believe conscientious MPs and Ministers, including former MPs and former Ministers, are very distressed when the Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia abdicated his role to be in the vanguard to defend the parliamentary privileges of MPs when he said: “Up to courts to rule if MPs subject to OSA’” (New Straits Times 4/11/06 headline p. 22).
Does Pandikar agree with Khalid about the police harassment and investigation of the former Cabinet Ministers for speaking on 1MDB in Parliament during the debate on the 2017 Budget?
I do not agree that it is up the courts, and not the speaker, to decide on whether Members of Parliament are subject to the Official Secrets Act (OSA) while speaking in Parliament.
A conscientious Speaker should lead the fight to protect and uphold traditional and constitutionally-provided parliamentary privileges and immunities, and if challenged in a court of law, should himself go to court to protect and uphold parliamentary privileges and immunities and not to fold his arm to supinely await the outcome of the court decision.
The defence and upholding of parliamentary privileges and immunities is not a partisan issue, but rises above party politics and should be the concern all MPs as well as Ministers (who are also MPs) – including former MPs and former Ministers.
This is the reason why I propose an initial meeting of all MPs (including all former MPs as well as former Ministers) to discuss the sudden constitutional crisis confronting Malaysia over the doctrine of separation of powers among the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary, bearing directly on the issue of MPs’ parliamentary privileges and immunities.
What a former Minister, Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz said yesterday reinforced my feelings that the time has come for all Malaysians to rise above political party and other differences to come together as one Malaysian people to keep the country safe from “marauders” who come in various forms, so that we can live to see a day with more hope for the future of Malaysia.
Rafidah said in her Facebook that she is sad, angry, worried and fearful over the problems plaguing the nation now.
Among the things that have become “haywire”, she said, is the absence of good social governance and the proliferation of xenophobia in the country.
Despite that, she said, the vast majority of Malaysians love the country and accept diversity.
She wrote on her Facebook:
“AND YET..there is the vast MAJORITY of Malaysians, who love their Malaysia, and who totally accept the diversities amongst us. THEY have to face the Xenophobia, the Hypocricy, and the near insanity of the MINORITY..who flex their puny muscles..make near crazy utterances…and THREATEN the very fabric of the Malaysian Society. “AND these are in parallel with the EROSION of the Culture of GOOD and effective Political and Economic Governance ..forged over the decades..by past Leaders and Leadership. “YES…Past Leaders do have their shortcomings..and have made mistakes.. “THEY..AS WE ALL ARE..ARE ONLY HUMAN..not infallible..PERFECTION is ONLY reserved for the Almighty. “BUT..It is a different ballgame..when issues of personal interest, lack of Integrity ..and abuse of Public Trust is concerned. “Today..I ..and all of us I am sure..are weighed down by emotions that reflect. …..sadness ……upset and even anger ……disbelief ……concern and deep worry ……and maybe even fear. “These emotions have to do with what is happening around us..and the problems the Society and Nation are facing..and with our future.”
In her lifetime, Rafidah said, Malaysia has progressed from a colonial territory to a highly respected, rapidly developing nation. However, she said, many of the countries Malaysia had been ahead of are now catching up or have caught up, with some even having overtaken us.
How did things go so wrong in recent years with the country’s policies and politics, she asked.
“Some have become ostriches with heads in the sand, but exposing their backsides for all to see.
“I am sure we can feel the world talking about us, laughing at us even, and in not so complimentary ways,” she said.
Rafidah’s restiveness and agony is the restiveness and agony of all patriotic Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region, or party politics, who love Malaysia.
This is the reason for the Tuesday meeting of MPs and ex-MPs in Parliament on a subject which is close to the heart of the question of the quality of democracy and Parliament in Malaysia and the type of Malaysian nation we want to build for future generations.