Constitutional law expert Abdul Aziz Bari questioned independent Pasir Mas parliamentarian Ibrahim Ali's recent suggestion that parliamentary immunity be revoked.

"I wonder what Ibrahim Ali had in mind, (and) Sallahudin Ayub who also supported the idea today, he told Malaysiakini yesterday.

NONE He added that Ibrahim's suggestion "would send a funny signal around the world - it is as if our lawmakers are so unruly and that they misuse this privilege.

"In any case, the constitution has put some limits on parliamentary immunity, under the Sedition Act and Official Secret Act," he said.

But Aziz Bari ( above ) added that these so called 'safeguards' have been criticised as they can prevent parliamentarians from doing their duty in scrutinising government actions.

"So, given the problem faced by the MPs, I would have thought that instead of abolishing the immunity, Parliament should have removed both the laws or the provision thereof, so that our members of Parliament would be free to discuss matters," he opined.

He explained that the privilege of immunity is given to all members of the legislature around the world. The idea, he said was to allow parliamentarians to debate matters freely without fear of being hauled to court for petty reasons.

This, he said, also underlines the august position of the House as a part of the state branches under the doctrine of separation of powers.

"It is only natural that members of the House, the major lawmaking institution, be given such a protection," he added.

Constitutional privilege

As far as Malaysia is concerned, Abdul Aziz said, the privilege is part of our constitution.

"Parliamentary immunity is guaranteed to all MPs, senators and assemblypersons and all the members of committees thereof.

"It is also contained in the House of Parliament ordinance 1952 which is essentially codified under the common law principle."

C ibrahim ali sues the sun 290410 02 ommenting further on Ibrahim's ( left ) suggestion to revoke parliamentary immunity, he said, "for one thing, no one has two-thirds majority in parliament to amend the provision on that immunity."

Abdul Aziz added further, "I do not understand what Ibrahim Ali is concerned about. I believe the people are wise enough to monitor the speeches of their MPs.

If they think that their MP has erred, Abdul Aziz said, "they should know what to do in the next general elections."

He further added, that this matter "underlines the need for parliamentary live telecasts", so that the public can then freely judge the performance of their elected representatives.

selambau pkr pc 040409 saifuddin nasution However, he said that the telecast must be live and not selective, as it is now.

Ibrahim on Monday called for the revocation of the parliamentary immunity, so that he can take action against PKR secretary-general and Machang parliamentarian Saifuddin Nasution ( left ).

Saifuddin had alleged, during a speech in Parliament, that Ibrahim owned shares in a company linked to business tycoon Vincent Tan, who owns gambling outfit Ascot Sports.

Still upset over the allegation, which he said tarnishes his image, Ibrahim also told reporters that he will proceed with legal action against Saifuddin.