Dewan Rakyat speaker Azhar Azizan Harun and Attorney-General Idrus Harun must do their jobs in advising the prime minister to table and debate the proclamation of emergency and ordinances at the upcoming Parliament special meeting, Ramkarpal Singh said today.
“Their failure to do so amounts to a serious dereliction of their duties, warranting their immediate resignations,” the Bukit Gelugor MP said in a statement.
Ramkarpal was referring Azhar’s reminder to Pakatan Harapan (PH) presidential council to stop the politics of hate without any kind of substance through misinformation and a false narrative.
Azhar said this after the PH presidential council on July 18 said the speaker and the Perikatan Nasional government were disobedient (derhaka) to the king in not allowing debates and Parliament to function normally in the meeting to be held between July 26 and Aug 2.
He also said PH should stop trying to drive a wedge between him, his office and Istana Negara by issuing an irresponsible statement that is no more than pure political drivel without any kind of substance.
The PH presidential council had issued a statement urging for debates in the special parliamentary meeting following Azhar’s earlier statement that the meeting would be just a briefing by ministers.
Ramkarpal said Azhar’s statement against the PH presidential council was uncalled for as he ought to accept criticism of his handling of his job with an open mind.
“A trained lawyer, Azhar is no fool. He cannot claim ignorance of Article 150(3) of the constitution, which is clear and unambiguous in its terms,” he said.
Ramkarpal said Article 150 (3) states:
“A proclamation of emergency and any ordinance promulgated under clause 2B shall be laid before both houses of Parliament and, if not sooner revoked, shall cease to have effect if resolutions are passed by both houses annulling such proclamation or ordinance, but without prejudice to anything previously done by virtue thereof or to the power of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to issue a new proclamation under clause 1 or promulgate any ordinance under clause 2B.”
He said Azhar could not hide behind Standing Order 11(3) of the Dewan Rakyat to say that it was the prime minister who decides the agenda of Parliament.
He said at the very least, Azhar should reveal if he has advised the prime minister of Article 150(3) and the need to table the said proclamation and ordinances instead of crying at criticism of his handling of the agenda of Parliament.
“The attorney-general must also state if he has advised the prime minister of the same as it is his duty to do so as the adviser of the government,” he said.
“This would also be in line with the view of the king, who has said that Parliament ought to be convened soonest for the purpose of tabling the said proclamation of emergency and ordinances pursuant to Article 150(3).” – TMI