‘Revocation done based on understanding King wanted EO revoked’

PETALING JAYA: Former Senate president Tan Sri SA Vigneswaran has weighed in on the controversy over the Emergency Ordinances, saying that the revocation was done based on the understanding that the King wanted them revoked following a decision not to extend them beyond Aug 1.

“Why did the government revoke the ordinance before the natural death on Aug 1? The most logical and possible explanation that can be deduced from the unfolded events is that the government had understood His Majesty’s order that he does not want (the EO) to continue beyond its current term, to also have an implied meaning that His Majesty desires to revoke it,” he said in a statement.

He said that it was understood that the King had given clear orders to reconvene the Parliament on the earliest date possible with regard to the matter.

“His Majesty announced this after considering all the views by political leaders, the Special Independent Committee on the Emergency 2021 as well as experts and members of government agencies,” he said.

Referring to His Majesty’s direction on July 29 for the revocation of the EO to be debated in Parliament, he said this “unfortunately represents a setback towards rebuilding the stability of our nation”.

Vigneswaran stressed that he was not in any way seeking to undermine or indicate any form of disrespect towards the direction of the King.

“Due to the fact that His Majesty had previously announced that the EO will lapse after Aug 1 and will not be extended, the need to hold a debate (after that) will be highly superfluous as it will squander the time awarded for MPS to initiate protocols and procedure towards rebuilding the country.”

Vigneswaran also said the special sitting of the Parliament was aimed at debating the Covid-19 recovery plan and issues related to the pandemic.

He also said that it is an accepted convention that the list of order papers for parliamentary sessions is set by the government of the day and not the constitutional monarch.

“The activism by the monarch is much appreciated but the issue here is whether His Majesty’s orders are within the parameters of the constitution even though this is the ultimate check and balance the nation is seeking,” he added.

Vigneswaran also noted that both the constitutional monarchy and government have well-defined roles to play, and that any differences should be resolved in discussions.

“Differences in views, if any, should not be debated in public but sorted out across the table,” he said.

Dewan Rakyat’s five-day special sitting began on July 26 and was to have ended on Aug 2 but had been deferred following detection of Covid-19 cases there.

The sitting was to discuss the Covid-19 situation, the vaccination process and the national economic recovery plan including the EO.