Restore the King's power, we need check and balance - Constitution expert

A constitutional law expert has proposed for the amendment to the Federal Constitution,which was made in 1994, involving the power of the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong, to be revised and changed back to the original provision.

Associate Professor Dr Shamrahayu Abdul Aziz of the Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia (IKIM) said, the proposal to amend the constitution is not meant to challenge the democratic system.

Instead, she said, it would be seen as a move to ensure the drafting of laws is made more carefully.

More importantly, she said, it is to ensure checks and balances within the country's legal system.

"As an academician, I believe the (proposed) amendment is good. And, we have to make this amendment as we need to restore, first the mechanism of checks and balances and second, precision in drafting laws.

"When we have the institution of the Agong, this can be a mechanism to check whether what the Parliament is doing meets the requirements of the basic principles of our country.

“If we do not have other mechanism outside Parliament to balance it, it will not be a good thing to our legal system,” Shamrahayu said when contacted by Astro AWANI yesterday.

READ: I would like to apologise for the amendment - Dr Mahathir

She said, the move is seen as a 'second chance' to restore the role of the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong in the national legislative process.

"In my opinion, we should at least give it a second chance, even though we want to uplift democracy and we want to take care of the monarchy,” she said.

Elaborating further, the International Islamic University law graduate said, the bill to propose the change to the 1994 amendment should go through the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara again.

"After giving it some time, it must be read and passed again and then handed over to the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong for the second time.

“This is to ensure that the bill is passed with precision. It is not to challenge the democratic system but to ensure that the law is drafted with utmost care," she said.

In a blog post, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad apologised to the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong for making the amendment to the constitution, resulting in the consent of the Rulers no longer required in a legal gazette.