PM has constitutional duty to submit EC recommendations to Parliament – Gabungan

0

KOTA KINABALU: The Prime Minister is required by law to submit the proposed redelineation of electoral boundaries and the increase of 13 new seats for the Sabah Legislative Assembly to the Parliament as soon as may be after the Election Commission (EC) has submitted its report to the Prime Minister.

Gabunagan Sabah Legal Panel chairman Datuk Maijol Mahap said in a statement here yesterday that it was very clearly stated in Section 9 of the 13th Schedule of the Federal Constitution which provided that: “As soon as may be after the Election Commission has submitted its report to the Prime Minister under Section 8, he (the PM) shall lay before the House of

Representatives (Dewan Rakyat of Parliament) to give effect to the recommendations contained in the (EC) report.”

“Section 10 further provides that only a simple majority of Parliament is needed. Upon approval by the Dewan Rakyat, the PM shall submit the same to the Yang di-Pertuan Agung.”

In other words, Maijol contended that once the EC had submitted its report to the Prime Minister, Section 9 had been triggered and the PM had no choice, no discretion and no option to delay the submission of the EC report to Parliament.

“It is generally known in the public domain that the electoral redelineation process in Sabah started in 2016 after the Legislative

Assembly amended the Sabah constitution to increase its membership from 60 to 73. The amendment was later assented to by the Sabah Head of State and gazetted as law later in 2016. There were no legal actions to the entire process and no delays. It has become abundantly clear that the EC report has been ready to be submitted to parliament for more than a year.

“In view of the fact that the Sabah constitution now provides for 73 members (and no longer 60), it is mandatory for the EC to hold elections for 73 seats. Failure to do so will raise serious doubts of constitutionality after the elections.

“There is also absolutely no reason for the PM to not submit the EC report to Parliament which is now in session. The PM has had a whole year in 2017 of about 100 days of parliamentary sittings to do so. If the PM continues to refuse to lay the EC report before the Dewan Rakyat, it amounts to a usurpation of the authority of the Dewan Rakyat,” he said.

Therefore, Maijol said the PM should carry out his constitutional duty to lay the EC report before the Dewan Rakyat without any further delay.

“If the PM does not lay the report to the Dewan Rakyat in the current sitting of Parliament, it would be disrespecting the Sabah Constitution, Sabah Legislative Assembly, Head of State and people of Sabah,” he pointed out.