Tun Mahathir apologises for curtailing Agong's powers

PETALING JAYA: Former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad (pix) today apologised for amending the Federal Constitution that has rendered the consent and signature of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong unnecessary in the passing of laws.
He acknowledged that it was through his action that the controversial National Security Council (NSC) Act became law without royal assent.
"I would like to apologise for the amendment to the constitution which made the approval and signature of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong no longer necessary for the legalising of an act of Parliament.
"It would seem that because of the amendment, the new National Security Law has become operational even though the Yang di-Pertuan Agong has not signed it," he said in his latest blog post today.
Dr Mahathir, however, noted that the amendment does not affect all laws in the country, stressing that some laws passed by the Parliament would still need the consent and signature of the Agong, including that of declaring a state of emergency.
In 1994, the Dr Mahathir-led government passed amendments to the constitution (Article 66(4a)) to allow any bill that has been passed by the Parliament to become law within 30 days, regardless of whether the Agong gives his assent.
This has allowed the NSC Bill, for example, to become law on June 7 this year despite not obtaining express royal assent, unlike other Bills passed by Parliament, after the 30-day period by which the King would have to give his assent, had passed.
The NSC Bill, which provides for the establishment of the NSC, the declaration of security areas, and other related matters, was earlier passed by the Dewan Rakyat on Dec 3, 2015, and by the Dewan Negara, on Dec 22, 2015.
Lawyer Latheefa Koya, however, defended Mahathir, saying that at the time when the amendment was made, nobody would have foreseen it being misused in a such a way as the NSC.
"Eventhough he amended the constitution, Mahathir never used the law in such a way as (Prime Minister Datuk Seri) Najib Abdul Razak had. I think it is very much appreciated that Mahathir even apologised," she told theSun when contacted today.
Meanwhile, Mahathir also hit out at Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak-led government for declaring the Auditor-General's report on 1Malaysia Development Berhad an official secret and placing it under the Official Secrets Act.
He said this was contrary to the provision in the Federal Constitution where the report should actually be submitted to the Agong and then laid before the House of Representatives.
"Clearly Najib's government has not only ignored the provision of the constitution, but also acted against it by giving the report to the Attorney-General. It was then classified as official secret," he said.