ANALYSIS Pakatan Rakyat MPs have been
left feeling ‘misled’ by Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in relation to
the cabinet’s apparent ‘willingness’ to consider their revisions to the
Prevention of Crime Act (Amendment and Extension) Bill 2013.
Events over the final 24 hours in the Dewan Rakyat before the Bill was passed last Wednesday proved to be a stark contrast to signals that Pakatan MPs had been receiving since Monday - that the cabinet may consider accepting some of their revisions.
On Tuesday their representative - Gombak MP Azmin Ali (left)
- met the speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia and expressed concern with the
way the Bill was being rushed through, and was advised to approach Zahid
to try and defer the Bill.
He then confirmed getting an indication that the debate would run until Thursday, the final day of this sitting, and that the other 12 accompanying Bills would be deferred.
But Zahid caught the opposition bench unawares by wrapping up the second reading on Wednesday evening and then pushing on with passage of the Bill late that night.
This happened at a time when many opposition MPs were absent from the House, presumably anticipating that the committee stage would take place only on Thursday. Only 66 of them were present.
In winding-up the debate, Zahid (right)
barely answered any concerns or arguments raised by the opposition,
swatting these away with one-sentence replies. All 10 of Pakatan’s
revisions were bluntly rejected.
On Saturday, he shed some light on the process when speaking at an event in Malacca, when he called the amended PCA Bill "my law".
"I (discussed) with (minister in charge of parliamentary affairs) Shahidan Kassim so that when the time comes (for a vote), the ... speaker would be on our side, the Dewan Rakyat secretary will be on our side," he was recorded as telling his audience.
‘Two-faced Zahid’
Yesterday, one Pakatan parliamentarian described the process as a “conspiracy by the government”, while another expressed certainty that the absence of some opposition MPs was part of the calculation.
"This is what we can call the tyranny of the majority. There's nothing else that describes this,” he said.
PKR's Kapar parliamentarian G Manivannan said the tone of parliamentary proceedings on Tuesday and Wednesday alone were enough to display Zahid’s "two-faced" nature.
Saying that the Dewan Rakyat had rushed through a Bill that serves Zahid’s "personal interests", Manivannan labelled him a “shameless minister”.
"Some BN MPs voted for the Bill without even knowing its ingredients. How can you do that when you are responsible to your people?" he asked.
Shortly before the vote in the House was ratified, Azmin had sarcastically congratulated Zahid and told him that he would "definitely" win the Umno vice-president's post now.
Contacted
yesterday, Azmin agreed that Pakatan was "misled" to a certain extent,
but argued that the Executive had also misled the Dewan Rakyat.
This is because the amendments are not in line with provisions in the federal constitution, he said.
"This Bill was rushed through (because of) the (upcoming) Umno general assembly,” Azmin claimed.
“Many Umno MPs have communicated to me privately that (Zahid, as home minister) needs to be seen as being tough on crime. But they are not sure if the minister will execute the powers (under) this Bill after the assembly.”
Going by Zahid's boast in Malacca and the reaction of his mainly Malay audience, Azmin may not be too far off the mark in terms of the likely impact on the Umno polls.
But the party’s representatives in the Dewan Rakyat must surely come from another planet if they are 'not sure’ if Zahid will enforce the amended provisions, including detention without trial.
RAM ANAND is a member of the Malaysiakini team.
Events over the final 24 hours in the Dewan Rakyat before the Bill was passed last Wednesday proved to be a stark contrast to signals that Pakatan MPs had been receiving since Monday - that the cabinet may consider accepting some of their revisions.
On Tuesday their representative - Gombak MP Azmin Ali (left)
- met the speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia and expressed concern with the
way the Bill was being rushed through, and was advised to approach Zahid
to try and defer the Bill.He then confirmed getting an indication that the debate would run until Thursday, the final day of this sitting, and that the other 12 accompanying Bills would be deferred.
But Zahid caught the opposition bench unawares by wrapping up the second reading on Wednesday evening and then pushing on with passage of the Bill late that night.
This happened at a time when many opposition MPs were absent from the House, presumably anticipating that the committee stage would take place only on Thursday. Only 66 of them were present.
In winding-up the debate, Zahid (right)
barely answered any concerns or arguments raised by the opposition,
swatting these away with one-sentence replies. All 10 of Pakatan’s
revisions were bluntly rejected.On Saturday, he shed some light on the process when speaking at an event in Malacca, when he called the amended PCA Bill "my law".
"I (discussed) with (minister in charge of parliamentary affairs) Shahidan Kassim so that when the time comes (for a vote), the ... speaker would be on our side, the Dewan Rakyat secretary will be on our side," he was recorded as telling his audience.
‘Two-faced Zahid’
Yesterday, one Pakatan parliamentarian described the process as a “conspiracy by the government”, while another expressed certainty that the absence of some opposition MPs was part of the calculation.
"This is what we can call the tyranny of the majority. There's nothing else that describes this,” he said.
PKR's Kapar parliamentarian G Manivannan said the tone of parliamentary proceedings on Tuesday and Wednesday alone were enough to display Zahid’s "two-faced" nature.
Saying that the Dewan Rakyat had rushed through a Bill that serves Zahid’s "personal interests", Manivannan labelled him a “shameless minister”.
"Some BN MPs voted for the Bill without even knowing its ingredients. How can you do that when you are responsible to your people?" he asked.
Shortly before the vote in the House was ratified, Azmin had sarcastically congratulated Zahid and told him that he would "definitely" win the Umno vice-president's post now.
Contacted
yesterday, Azmin agreed that Pakatan was "misled" to a certain extent,
but argued that the Executive had also misled the Dewan Rakyat.This is because the amendments are not in line with provisions in the federal constitution, he said.
"This Bill was rushed through (because of) the (upcoming) Umno general assembly,” Azmin claimed.
“Many Umno MPs have communicated to me privately that (Zahid, as home minister) needs to be seen as being tough on crime. But they are not sure if the minister will execute the powers (under) this Bill after the assembly.”
Going by Zahid's boast in Malacca and the reaction of his mainly Malay audience, Azmin may not be too far off the mark in terms of the likely impact on the Umno polls.
But the party’s representatives in the Dewan Rakyat must surely come from another planet if they are 'not sure’ if Zahid will enforce the amended provisions, including detention without trial.
RAM ANAND is a member of the Malaysiakini team.
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