In the era of 24/7, the 24-hour silence of the Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on a vital constitutional issue like the extension of the emergency is a most extraordinary thing.
Is it because the Prime Minister is out of his depth on the constitutional issue and uncertain of the import of what he said in his national telecast on January 12, 2021 about the Special Independent Committee to advise the Yang di Pertuan Agong on whether the emergency proclamation of January 11, 2021 is to be extended or ended, or whether it is because this is the crown of all SOP flips-flops, U-turns and double-standards by the Perikatan Nasional Government in the last 18 months since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic or is it because the Prime Minister could not get the Attorney-General to advise him on this vital constitutional issue on a Sunday?
The whole country is waiting for a statement from the Prime Minister since the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Takiyuddin Hassan, triggered a storm yesterday dismissing the importance and role of the Special Independent Committee in advising the Yang di Pertuan Agong on the emergency issue, insisting that the Constitution on the “Yang di Pertuan Agong acting advice” would be followed to the letter – that it is the Cabinet or the designated Minister who will advise the Yang di Pertuan Agong on the issue whether the emergency would be extended on August 1 and that this advice by the Cabinet or the designated Minister must be strictly followed by the Yang di Pertuan Agong.
I am sure the question “Where is the Prime Minister?” has never been asked by more Malaysians than today.
The Special Independent Committee to advise the Yang di Pertuan Agong on when the proclamation should end was announced with great fanfare, comprising a star-studded committee of 19 members, chaired by a former chief justice, comprising a former Chief Secretary, a former Inspector-General of Police, a former Armed Forces Chief, a former Health director-general and eminent Malaysians as well as Members of Parliament representing the major political parties.
Not only the whole nation, but the entire civil service, were led to believe that this Special Independent Committee would advise the Yang di Pertuan Agong on whether the emergency would be extended on August 1 or should end earlier.
But suddenly, the de facto Law Minister dropped a bombshell and said that this was a wrong impression, that the Special Independent Committee was actually irrelevant and immaterial as to its advice, as it is the Cabinet or the designated Minister as provided by Article 40 of the Constitution which would advise the Yang di Pertuan Agong and this advice must be accepted by the Yang di Pertuan Agong.
The entire 19-member Special Independent Committee headed by Arifin Zakaria should meet the Prime Minister and ask for an assurance that it is the Special Independent Committee and not the Cabinet or designated Minister who will advise the Yang di Pertuan Agong on whether to extend the emergency on August 1 and that this should not be the crown of all Covid-19 SOP flip-flops, U-turns and double-standards by the Perikatan Nasional government.
If the Prime Minister is not prepared to give such an assurance, the Special Independent Committee might as well be disbanded.
(Media Statement (3) by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday June 13,2021)