NSC bill does not supersede King's power, says Jazlan

KUALA LUMPUR: The National Security Council's (NSC) bill does not supersede the powers vested in the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to declare an area under a state of emergency.
Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said the bill will allow for the NSC to act swiftly in an event of terror threat in Malaysia - in response to the growing threat coming from terrorist group Islamic State.
"For example, in an event of a threat in KL City Centre, NSC can be used to declare the area as a security zone and police as well as army action can be integrated more effectively," he said.
"We hope the bill will not be misinterpreted as an action to supersede the powers of Yang di-Pertuan Agong in using the emergency act," he told a press conference after officiating the Islamic State Seminar: Jihad vs Militancy, at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Jalan Semarak here.
The Dewan Rakyat on Dec 3 passed the National Security Council Bill (NSC) 2015, despite criticism from the opposition that the new law will allow the government to consolidate more power.
The new law when passed, among others, will give the NSC, which will be chaired by the prime minister, to declare areas considered to be "seriously disturbed or threatened" as a "security area" for up to six months at a time.
Today, at a similar closed door seminar for MCA members, party president, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said there were at least 50,000 IS sympathisers in Malaysia which was facing a growing threat of extremism.
"This must be addressed as it could jeopardise Malaysia's peace and prosperity. All it takes is for 1% of this number to turn radical and if they attack any part of Malaysia we will be in serious trouble," he said.
Nur Jazlan said the current emergency declaration power vested in the King can only be made on a large area, without specification such as those mentioned in the NSC bill.
"Emergency processes takes a lot of steps and is time consuming. Terror attacks today must be dealt with early," he said, adding that similar laws existed in several foreign countries.
He said the NSC has been operating for more than 40 years, but the passing of the bill would formalise its power.
"The threat of terror has not been as serious as today. It requires quick action if some threat was to happen," he said.
Nur Jazlan assured that the government would not abuse the law to clamp down on street demonstrations, citing the recent Bersih rally as example.
"There has been four Bersih demonstrations but not once the NSC was used to handle the situation.
"Bersih shouldn't think of themselves as being too important. Terrorist are more important than demonstrations," he said.
"They said they are peaceful so they are not terrorist, so we don't care about them. We let the police handle their demonstration," he added.