Johor amends bill, reduces ruler discretion
Farah Noor SamatPublished: Jun 8, 2014 3:33 PM | Updated: Jun 9, 2014 11:52 AM
The controversial Johor housing Bill will be amended to reduce powers earlier proposed for the sultan.
The announcement was made by Menteri Besar Mohamed Khaled Nordin in the state assembly today, Senai assemblyperson Wong Shu Qi said.
Wong said that amendments include inserting a provision that board members are appointed by the sultan on the advice of the MB.
She told Malaysiakini that the Bill will tabled as planned tomorrow with amendments.
The controversial Johor housing Bill will be amended to reduce powers earlier proposed for the sultan.
The announcement was made by Menteri Besar Mohamed Khaled Nordin (left) in the state assembly in Nusajaya today, Senai assemblyperson Wong Shu Qi said.
Wong said that amendments include inserting a provision that board members are appointed by the sultan on the advice of the MB.
The word "ruler" in other clauses will be changed to "state authority".
She told Malaysiakini that the Bill will be tabled as planned tomorrow with these and other amendments.
The original Bill gives the sultan powers to appoint members of the board, decide the members' remuneration, oversee the board's accounts and dissolve the board.
Bernama, meanwhile reported that Khaled said the ruler will only have power to appoint board members, and nothing else.
"There will be amendments made, specifically that the role of the ruler would be on the advice of the Menteri Besar, especially on the appointment of the board members.
"What is most important is that the other sections (on the role of the ruler) will be deleted. Only that (the appointments) concerning the role of the ruler to appoint (the board members) with the advice of the Menteri Besar. The others will be replaced by the State Authorities," he was quoted as saying.
Original copy rife with typos
The newswire reported that the MB stressed that no provision will be against the princinple of constitutional monarchy as it is read with the state constitution, where the ruler acts on advise of the MB.
"If the Johor enactment is against the Constitution, then all the Federal Acts are also against it.
"So we hope with the amendment, there will be no more problems as what the state government is doing is for the good of the people," he is quoted as saying.
Khaled's annoucement comes as DAP and PAS called for a withdrawal of the Bill, which it argued undermined constitutional monarchy and gives the sultan executive powers.
DAP earlier today also called for a bipartisan committee on the matter and pointed out that the Bill was riddled with typographic errors.
Among them, the word 'business' is misspelled as 'bossiness' while missing words were spotted in other parts.
In one instance, half a Malay sentence mysteriously appeared in the English language version of the Bill.
"(It is) self-evident that the Bill is less than ready for passing," Johor DAP chief Liew Chin Tong wrote on Facebook, after posting the typo errors.
PAS: Giving sultan executive power sullies monarchy
Separately, PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu said that giving the sultan executive powers sullies the royal institution, said PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu.
Stressing the party's stand to defend the constitutional monarchy system, Mohamad (left) said the ruler should not be involved in executive matters.
"PAS continues to support a constutitional monarchy and any move to drag the royal institution into the executive sullies the constutional monarchy itself," he said.
He said this at a press conference after the central committee meeting at the PAS headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today.
He said that central committee agreed to oppose the Bill as it believes that matters of housing and real estate should not involve the royal institution.
Related stories:
Johor Pakatan still wants Housing Bill deferred
Johor Bill could pass due to constitution anomaly
Utusan ready to snub Johor sultan over Bill
Ex-MP slams PM for teetering over Johor Bill
Utusan takes aim at Johor MB for insisting on Bill
The announcement was made by Menteri Besar Mohamed Khaled Nordin (left) in the state assembly in Nusajaya today, Senai assemblyperson Wong Shu Qi said.
Wong said that amendments include inserting a provision that board members are appointed by the sultan on the advice of the MB.The word "ruler" in other clauses will be changed to "state authority".
She told Malaysiakini that the Bill will be tabled as planned tomorrow with these and other amendments.
The original Bill gives the sultan powers to appoint members of the board, decide the members' remuneration, oversee the board's accounts and dissolve the board.
Bernama, meanwhile reported that Khaled said the ruler will only have power to appoint board members, and nothing else.
"There will be amendments made, specifically that the role of the ruler would be on the advice of the Menteri Besar, especially on the appointment of the board members.
"What is most important is that the other sections (on the role of the ruler) will be deleted. Only that (the appointments) concerning the role of the ruler to appoint (the board members) with the advice of the Menteri Besar. The others will be replaced by the State Authorities," he was quoted as saying.
Original copy rife with typos
The newswire reported that the MB stressed that no provision will be against the princinple of constitutional monarchy as it is read with the state constitution, where the ruler acts on advise of the MB.
"If the Johor enactment is against the Constitution, then all the Federal Acts are also against it.
"So we hope with the amendment, there will be no more problems as what the state government is doing is for the good of the people," he is quoted as saying.
Khaled's annoucement comes as DAP and PAS called for a withdrawal of the Bill, which it argued undermined constitutional monarchy and gives the sultan executive powers.DAP earlier today also called for a bipartisan committee on the matter and pointed out that the Bill was riddled with typographic errors.
Among them, the word 'business' is misspelled as 'bossiness' while missing words were spotted in other parts.
In one instance, half a Malay sentence mysteriously appeared in the English language version of the Bill.
"(It is) self-evident that the Bill is less than ready for passing," Johor DAP chief Liew Chin Tong wrote on Facebook, after posting the typo errors.
PAS: Giving sultan executive power sullies monarchy
Stressing the party's stand to defend the constitutional monarchy system, Mohamad (left) said the ruler should not be involved in executive matters."PAS continues to support a constutitional monarchy and any move to drag the royal institution into the executive sullies the constutional monarchy itself," he said.
He said this at a press conference after the central committee meeting at the PAS headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today.
He said that central committee agreed to oppose the Bill as it believes that matters of housing and real estate should not involve the royal institution.
Related stories:
Johor Pakatan still wants Housing Bill deferred
Johor Bill could pass due to constitution anomaly
Utusan ready to snub Johor sultan over Bill
Ex-MP slams PM for teetering over Johor Bill
Utusan takes aim at Johor MB for insisting on Bill
View Comments0