Government should consider deferring the special sittings of Parliament beginning on Monday to work out a 1993 Constitution Amendment Bill which could obtain the consent of the Conference of Rulers

by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Saturday, January 16, 1992:

Government should consider deferring the special sittings of Parliament beginning on Monday to work out a 1993 Constitution Amendment Bill which could obtain the consent of the Conference of Rulers

In my 1993 New Year Message, I said that Malaysia was entering 1993 poised on the threshold of its greatest constitutional crisis since Merdeka.

This has come to pass with the decision today by the Conference of Rulers to deny consent to the 1993 Constitution Amendment Bill to remove the immunities of Rulers from criminal and civil wrongdoings.

The DAP’s stand on the removal of the immunities of the Rulers has been clear-cut and unequivocal right from the beginning, that no Ruler is above the law and could commit criminal or civil wrongdoing and that every citizen who is aggrieved by any royal wrongdoing should be able to seek redress and secure justice.

The Malaysian Constitution, however, stipulates that “no law directly affecting the privileges, position, honours and dignities of the Rulers shall be passed without the consent of the Conference of Rulers”.

In view of the decision of the Conference of Rulers today, the government should seriously consider postponing the special sittings of Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara until a formula could be found whereby the consent of the Conference of Rulers to the 1993 Constitution Amendment Bill could be obtained.

I had said in my New Year message that the constitutional crisis that would ensue from a constitutional stalemate over the 1993 Constitution Amendment Bill would render 1983Constitutional crisis a mere child play, and this is why such a constitutional crisis should be averted by all parties – including the Rulers – concerned.