Ambiga: NSC bill undermines the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's powers

KUALA LUMPUR: Barisan Nasional senators did not show up for a briefing on the National Security Council (NSC) bill organised by a coalition of NGOs at Parliament today.
Only six senators from the opposition parties were present for the one-hour briefing held by the #TakNakDiktator Campaign Coalition here.
Those present were Dr Ariffin SM Omar and ST Chandra Mohan from DAP, Siti Aishah Shaik Ismail and Dr Syed Husin Ali of PKR, and Datuk Dr Johari Mat and Khairiah Mohamed of PAS.
The coalition's spokesperson Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan expressed disappointment that none of the remaining 61 BN and independent senators showed up, despite a formal email invitation sent earlier.
"We were prepared to answer any questions by these MPs. But it is a tragedy that they are not here," she told a press conference after the briefing.
Ambiga claimed that the NSC bill, which was passed in the Dewan Rakyat two weeks ago, was an extreme bill, and even undermined the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's powers as the Supreme leader of the army.
"The chain of command that the Agong shall be the supreme leader of the armed forces under Article 41 and Article 137 the Federal Constitution is ignored in this bill.
"Why is the views of the army not taken into account?" she asked.
Ambiga added that the group had distributed a memorandum from #TakNakDiktator Campaign opposing the bill to the senators.
Although the BN senators were not present at the briefing, Ambiga said that they are open to engaging with them in the near future.