See taken aback by Dr Mahathir’s apology
KUCHING: Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How is pleasantly surprised with former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s admission of his mistake in amending the Federal Constitution to curtail the role of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong which made the royal assent of the Ruler unnecessary for an Act of Parliament to come into force and effect, and apologised for it.
See, who is state PKR vice chairman, said during Dr Mahathir’s 22-year reign as the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia from 1981 to 2003 Dr Mahathir’s administration had broken down the fabrics of this country’s political institution as a constitutional democracy.
“He had made Parliament subservient to the executive, trampled the independence of judiciary, suppressing freedom of press and speech, cowered the opposition, civil and socio-political movements with draconic legislatures and mass arrests, making all the institutions in this country submissive to the ‘Malaysia’s No. 1 Office,” he told The Borneo Post yesterday.
See said history was littered with accounts of politicians coming to realise the meaning of the timeless advice that ‘ power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely’, especially when they were rendered powerless and made victims of such abuse of power.
“The former Prime Minister appears powerless when he is now confronting the administration of the present Prime Minister. And he realises that himself,
He had made Parliament subservient to the executive, trampled the independence of judiciary, suppressing freedom of press and speech, cowered the opposition, civil and socio-political movements with draconic legislatures and mass arrests, making all the institutions in this country submissive to the ‘Malaysia’s No. 1 Office. See Chee How, Batu Lintang assemblyman
the opposition political parties, civil societies and any individuals who are mounting and clamouring political change in this country are facing the biggest threat and wrath of the controversial National Security Council Act.”
See said it was not easy for the proud former prime minister to humble himself and made this first apology, adding: “But his political opponents may criticise his apology as political, some may feel that he needs to apologise more than the curtailing of the power of the constitutional monarch.”
“But I hope that this will serve as a good political lesson to all Malaysians. We should realise that the building, safeguarding and furtherance of the institutions of our constitution and parliamentary democracy is the most crucial.”
See said the coming general election offers a good opportunity for all Malaysians to right the political wrongs.
“And all Sarawakians can play a momentous role in it, as we continue to demand and champion the autonomy and devolution of powers that were promised to Sarawak and Sabah by the founding fathers of this country.
“We should all be pro- active and contribute towards restoring and rebuilding the constitutional institutions to help us achieve our goals rather than pinning our hope on the present federal administration which is continuing to elude and neglect the needs of the two East Malaysian states.”