Rulers can rely on ‘doctrine of necessity’ to stop decline, say lawyers

[superadmin]

PETALING JAYA: The Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Malay Rulers have acted in the spirit of the Federal Constitution to “arrest a situation in the country from declining”, a constitutional lawyer said.

Dominic Puthucheary said the hereditary rulers also did not enter into the political arena as they were mindful of their roles as constitutional monarchs in a parliamentary democracy.

“They were acting to uphold the spirit of the constitution and prevent the situation in the country from declining. Without the constitution, the system will be abused,” he told FMT.

Puthucheary said this in response to a statement by Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, better known as Ku Li, that the King had the right to interfere and had “acted on the principle of necessity which is within a living constitution”.

The Kelantan prince, and the longest serving MP (since 1974), said this during the launch of a petition to urge the public to support a move to see Parliament sit before the emergency ends.

- More -