KUALA LUMPUR, June 29 — The National Security Council (NSC) Act cannot be “saved” and must be abolished entirely says civil group Lawyers for Liberty after Pakatan Harapan (PH) government said they have plans to keep the controversial law.
The group's executive director Latheefa Koya said the NSC Act clearly undermines principles of democracy and the rule of law and has no place in this new Malaysia.
“The NSC Act cannot be saved; it must be abolished, not reviewed or reshuffled, as promised in the Pakatan Harapan manifesto.
“There must be cogent reasons and strong justification in order to take the serious step of departing from any manifesto promise but in this case there is absolutely no justification whatsoever! “ said Latheefa in a statement today.
Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu yesterday said the government have plans to keep the controversial law and will only be looking to amend selected provisions in a reshuffle as it was a good vehicle for government officers to serve the government.
Latheefa said the PH government must follow through with its promises to ensure that the abuses of the previous regime remain a thing of the past.
She said no person or entity should be given such absolute and unfettered powers in the Act that was gazetted two years ago as it was passed without justification, publicity or consultation.
“The NSC Act provides for an abuse of powers for the Prime Minister and its constitutionality continues to be questioned,” she said adding there were no checks and balances as the role of the other members of the NSC is merely advisory.
According to the Act, the NSC’s jurisdiction takes effect once the Prime Minister designates a location as a “security area” — a status that is valid for six months at a time, subject to renewal by the leader of the country.
Once the NSC takes over control of a security area, security forces will have the right to search or arrest individuals without warrant if found committing, alleged to have committed or reasonably suspected of having committed any offence under written laws in the security area.
Among the concerns cited by Latheefa was that the entire legislation was open ended and vague in many of its key definitions with tremendous scope is given to the NSC to determine what constitutes a security issue under Clauses 4 and 18 of the Act.
“The Act also empowers the Prime Minister with powers specifically provided by the Federal Constitution to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong under Article 41 (command of the military) and Article 150 (proclamation of emergency) under Clause 18 of the Act,” she said.
She said Malaysia already has a number of legislation to address national security issues, including controversial legislations such as the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015 (Pota), the
Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma) 2012, the Prevention of Crime Act 1959 and the 2012 amendments to the Penal Code.
