KUALA LUMPUR: The Opposition has urged the government to postpone the readings of the Bills to separate the powers of the Attorney General and the Public Prosecutor and limit the Prime Minister’s term to two years, as it flagged provisions in the proposed constitutional amendments.
Opposition chief whip Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan said the Bills should be referred to a cross-party parliamentary special committee, which also includes civil society groups for further deliberation instead of the existing parliamentary special select committee.
He said the Bill to separate the powers of the Attorney General and Public Prosecutor failed to instil proper check and balance and accountability.
“One significant issue in our country is how excessively broad the powers of the Attorney General are currently, as provided under the Constitution,” he said in a press conference in Parliament on Thursday (Feb 26).
Under Article 145(3), the Attorney General has the absolute discretion to initiate, conduct, or discontinue any proceedings for an offence, except for cases before the Syariah Courts, State Courts, or Military Courts. This is an extremely wide-ranging power. The Attorney General has complete discretion to start, carry out, or withdraw any case, and this has become a major concern for civil society.”
He said the proposed amendments simply “copy and pasted” the previous provision.
“If we look at this in the bill, the powers under Article 145(3) have been deleted, which we thought would curtail the Attorney General’s authority. However, the powers have essentially been transferred word-for-word to the Public Prosecutor. Now, the Public Prosecutor holds the same powers to initiate, conduct, or discontinue any proceedings for an offence, exactly as the Attorney General did previously,” he added.
He also urged for the powers of the Public Prosecutor to be subject to judicial review, as the current powers are too extensive and cannot be challenged in court.
He also branded the Bill to limit the powers of the prime minister to two terms as unconstitutional.
“The Opposition sees this as potentially unconstitutional because it may conflict with Article 40 and Article 43(2A), which give the Yang di-Pertuan Agong the prerogative to appoint the Prime Minister without any fixed term.”
Furthermore, this amendment requires the approval of the Conference of Rulers under Article 159(5) because it affects the powers and prerogatives of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong,” he said.
He said it is also doubtful that the Bill will see a successful passage in the Dewan Rakyat when it is tabled for the second and third readings on March 2 and March 3, as several government MPs too have voiced their objection.
As it is a constitutional amendment it will need a two-thirds majority in the 222-seat Dewan Rakyat or votes from 148 MPs.
“On this basis, the Opposition recommends that the government not proceed with the second reading and debate of these bills, but instead refer them to a special parliamentary select committee for the appropriate amendments,” he said.
On Tuesday (Feb 24), Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli (PH-Pandan) and a group of government backbenchers said the Bill was being rushed, adding that in its current form could jeopardise the two-thirds majority needed for it to pass.
Rafizi said the Bill should first be referred to the Parliamentary Special Select Committee (PSSC) on Human Rights, Election and Institutional Reform for further scrutiny, rather than being “bulldozed” through the Dewan Rakyat.
