No amount of explanations and excuses can exculpate the fifth-term Speaker, Tun Mohamad Zahir Ismail, the fifth-term Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, his Cabinet Ministers and the Barisan Nasional MPs from the constitutional crime of showing utter contempt for the Constitution, Parliament and the Yang di Pertuan Agong in persisting with the unconstitutional Parliamentary meeting today.
Today’s Parliament was summoned not in accordance with the Constitution, as the Yang di Pertuan Agong was wrongly advised to summon Parliament when the Cabinet had not been formed and had not met, Parliament wrongly advised to issue a notice of meeting to the 193 new MPs without the requisite minimum of 14-day notice, the Speaker Tun Zahir Ismail illegally re-elected as not in compliance of Standing Order (4) of the Dewan Rakyat requiring at least 14-day written notice of the candidate for the office and the oath-taking by the 193 new MPs consequently unconstitutional, illegal, null and void and of no effect.
Henceforth Malaysian MPs can only hold their heads in shame, whether in the country or internationally, when they identify themselves as MPs for the statutory rape of the Constitution.
Barisan Alternative MPs have at least redeemed the situation in their collective walk-out to protest against such a statutory rape of the Constitution and utter contempt shown by the Barisan Nasional to Parliament and the Yang di Pertuan Agong.
The first act of the Barisan Nasional after being returned to Parliament is to flaunt its political hegemony and use its three-quarter majority to violate the constitution and to further undermine public confidence in the rule of law.
Today is a day of shame for constitutional governance, the rule of law and parliamentary democracy. It does not augur well for justice, freedom, democracy and good governance in Malaysia for the next five years.
(20/12/99)