YOURSAY | Constitution, Parliament should stand above all else

YOURSAY | 'Sultan’s suggestion a reflection of how MACC, Petronas are overseen.'

Legal experts divided on royal control over MACC, Petronas

Vijay47: I think that deep within all of us, we agree that Malaysia being a constitutional monarchy, our Federal Constitution and Parliament should stand above all else.

The Agong accordingly plays a symbolic role in government and is the principal or perhaps sole authority on matters relating to Islam as the religion of the federation.

On this latter score, I will gleefully add that Jakim (Malaysian Islamic Department) is merely an Islamic administrative department, not a well-fed law unto itself as it currently believes.

Many of us rise in enthusiastic support of the Johor sultan’s proposal that the king adopt a more involved stand in the management of the nation, and specifically as a beginning, supervision of Petronas and MACC.

The sultan’s suggestion is itself a reflection of his low esteem regarding how the petrol giant and the enforcement agency are overseen.

Leaving aside its pretty Twin Towers, Petronas is nothing but a mega-commercial body, a glorified GLC.

Yet its affairs are treated as state secrets and thanks to former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, it reports only to the prime minister and not even to Parliament.

Why not? Rightly or wrongly, MACC does not earn the respect expected of an anti-corruption force. Sadly, it is viewed as a cat’s paw.

Its leadership is questionable - the current holder should have immediately resigned if his or his brother’s conduct even remotely sullied the agency’s image.

Similarly, our anxious desire that the king take on a more active position speaks of the low regard we hold for the government led by not only Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim but all the prime ministers since Mahathir.

Despite all the promises, the present ruling party is taking us further down the muddy river into damnation.

So, palace or Parliament? Sadly, despite all my misgivings, I would vote for Parliament.

Yet all is not lost. Parliament could still be the twin towers of an equitable and honourable font of governance if only Anwar admits he is prime minister for Malaysia and stops prancing around the world.

FairPlay: Believe it or not, the Federal Constitution has a term limit for the Agong but not for the PM and the politicians as elected representatives holding public office.

And that might be the root cause for the sad state of affairs afflicting the nation since independence.

The solutions might lie as follows.

Term limit for all specific positions:

1) Prime minister and cabinet minister.

2) MPs and state assembly.

3) Elected (not appointed) senators.

4) Key civil service positions.

5) All those holding public office (mayor, councillor, among others).

The power must return to the people.

For A Better World: As per the British unwritten Constitution, the fundamental doctrine, with regards to royalty is:

"The king reigns but does not rule."

Thus, as our written Constitution is based on the UK one, Parliament's rule to make laws is supreme.

The other two arms are the executive, the government and the third, the judiciary.

The balance and control in governing a nation is within these three parameters, organs of the state.

The Johor sultan has proposed certain powers that he may exercise concerning MACC and Petronas.

I believe the Johor sultan has some excellent valid grounds, especially after having a critical analysis of the operations of both these organisations/entities in the past 25 years.

This has to be placed before the public and if there is majority support, then it has to be implemented by the necessary amendments to the Constitution.

EmEmKay: The time has come for legal eagles to wake from their slumber all these years.

They were quiet as a church mouse when the autocratic former PM imposed arbitrary rules and policies on non-Malays citizens ignoring the Federal Constitution all these years.

The terminology bumiputera is not in the Federal Constitution. However, the former PM had his way and all Malaysians are now suffering because of the crutches given to bumiputera.

They are addicted to the crutches and these cannot be taken away because politicians are raking in the money under the disguise of Malay rights.

Cicak: “That is the constitutional law. There is no need for a reigning monarch to play an additional role beyond what is already agreed via our social contract,” the report said.

Well, that didn't work well for the last 60 years, isn't it? Many are hiding behind the "law", which in design is complete, to only have selective prosecution.

The elephant in the room is those mega scandals like 1MDB and littoral combat ships.

For the first one, we know for sure that there have been many red flags raised by many bodies, like Bank Negara and Public Accountability Committee, only to be put aside.

The only trigger was that the scandal was exported overseas and therefore, not able to control it like Malaysian authorities are so proud and skilful.

So, is MACC doing its job with success?

Focusapp: We can't have one man looking after the main kitty and the authorities who are going after those who stole from it.

One may yield unfettered powers to it and be honest, clean, or otherwise. But will that one man remain forever?

Another one inevitably will take over. Can we presume that he will be the same and not corrupt?

The current situation is dire. The political parties in power have gamed the system and milked it for decades resulting in rampant and ubiquitous corruption.

Instead, the sultan must push Anwar on reforms involving MACC and the attorney-general to ensure that Mr Madani has no 'power' over these institutions.

A call to park Petronas and MACC under Agong means the royalty has no confidence despite Mr Madani's claims that there’s no corruption under his nose.

The same sentiment is shared by the rakyat, especially after the DNAA (dismissal not amounting to acquittal) case.

2023: If legal experts are not divided in their opinions, how to cari makan? If all agree all the time, we don't need them or the courts.

Anyway, as regards the matter in question, I'm for the Agong to take charge of both MACC and Petronas if it is true that would be the right thing for the benefit of the entire nation.

It should be an open book; let the public know what is going on in both institutions.

Politicians love to keep everything under wraps, citing the Official Secrets Act for everything.

Maybe the attorney-general also ought to meet and get approval from the Agong to explain why some cases are DNAA since some in the eye of the public are suspects.

Maybe not stop just at MACC and Petronas; the full spectrum may need a review.

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. In the past year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.

These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.