The law on the matter is very clearly and simply set out in the Penang State Constitution.
Article 19 (1) of the Penang State Constitution vests powers on the Yang di-Pertua Negeri Pulau Pinang to summon the Penang State Assembly, but Article 8 provides that apart from two specific instances, the Yang di-Pertua Negeri in the exercise of his functions shall act in accordance with the advice of the State Executive Council.
Article 8 of the Penang State Constitution reads:
(2) The Yang di-Pertua Negeri shall act in his discretion in the performance of the following functions, that is to say, -
(a)the appointment of a Chief Minister; and
(b)the withholding of consent to a request for the dissolution
of the Legislative Assembly."
The Constitution is therefore very clear that in exercising his powers under Article 19(1) to summon the Legislative Assembly, the Yang di-Pertua Negeri must act on the advice of the State Executive Council.
In the case of the Penang State Government, the Penang State Executive Council was the last in Peninsula Malaysia to be formed after the Nov. 29, 1999 general election because of the political crisis among the Barisan Nasional component parties over MCA’s demand for the post of a second Deputy Chief Minister and additional State Exco allocations.
The ten State Executive Councillors were only sworn in before the Penang Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Dr Hamdan Sheikh Tahir at Seri Mutiara on Thursday, December 16, 1999. The swearing-in of the new Exco was immediately followed by the holding of its first meeting at Komtar at 11.30am an hour later.
However, on 8th December, 1999, all the newly-elected Penang State Assemblymen had received notification by the Penang State Assembly informing them that the Yang di Pertua Negeri had issued a proclamation summoning the State Assembly to meet from December 18, 1999.
The notice sent out by the Penang State Assembly clerk, Kasim bin Md
Isa reads:
Yang Berhormat,
Mesyuarat Yang Pertama Bagi Penggal Yang Pertama Dewan Undangan Negeri Pulau Pinang Yang Kesepuloh
Dengan segala hormatnya saya diarah memaklumkan bahawa menurut perisytiharan yang dikeluarkan oleh T.Y.T. Yang di-Pertua Negeri Pulau Pinang, T.Y.T. Yang di-Pertua Negeri telah menetapkan 18 Disember 1999, jam 9.30 pagi menjadi tarikh dan waktu bagi Mesyuarat Pertama bagi Penggal Yang Pertama, Dewan Undangan Negeri Pulau Pinang Yang Kesepuluh. Tuan Yang Terutama Yang di-Pertua Negeri bersetuju untuk mengecualikan notis 21 hari sebelum hari mesyuarat bagi membolehkan Enakmen Perbekalan 2000 dibentang dan diluluskan oleh Dewan Undangan Negeri sebelum 1 Januari 2000.
2. Ahli-ahli Yang Berhormat adalah dengan ini dimaklumkan bahawa pemberitahu-pemberitahu mengenai hal-hal yang dimaksudkan bagi dipertimbangkan di mesyuarat ini hendaklah di kemukakan dengan secepat mungkin supaya disampaikan kepada saya pada atau sebelum tarikh-tarikh berikut:-
11 Disember 1999 Bagi mengemukakan soalan-soalan
12.38 tengahari (bagi mendaptakan
jawapan-jawapan
lisan dan bertulis) dan usul-usul
11 Disember 1999 Bagi mengemukakan ucapan-ucapan
12.38 tengahari pengangguhan
3. Oleh kerana Peraturan 23 dan 31, Peraturan-peraturan Majlis Mesyuarat Dewan Undangan Negeri menghendaki notis selama sekurang-kurangnnya 14 hari diberi untuk mengemukakan soalan atau usul, maka Ahli-Ahli Yang Berhormat perlu memohon kebenaran Dato’ Speaker bagi mengemukakan soalan atau usul dalam tempoh yang kurang daripada tempoh itu selaras dengan Peraturan-peraturan tersebut."
The proclamation by the Yang di-Pertua Negeri and the State Assembly notification dated 8th December 1999 informing State Assembly members of the summoning of the State Assembly on December 18, 1999 contravened the State Constitution as no State Executive Council had been formed yet to advise the Yang di Pertua Negeri to exercise his powers under Article 19 (1) of the Constitution.
If the Penang State Assembly had been convened not in accordance with the provisions of the State Constitution, then all the bills and motions passed by the Penang State Assembly, whether in the December meeting or in future State Assembly meetings for the next five years, would be infected with illegality and unconstitutionality - and are null and void.
It would also mean that Datuk Yahaya Abdul Hamid had been illegally
elected Speaker of the Penang State Assembly.
I had warned as far back as December 14, 1999 that the convening of
the first meeting of the tenth Penang State Assembly based on the royal
proclamation and the state assembly notice of December 8, 1999 was unlawful
and unconstitutional, as no Executive Council had been formed yet
to advise the Yang di Pertua Negeri to convene the State Assembly meeting.
Parliament faced the same constitutional quandary as the Penang State Assembly, as the first meeting of Parliament fixed for 18th December 1999 was fixed on the basis of a royal proclamation on 9th December 1999 and a parliamentary notice dated 13th December 1999 even before the Cabinet had its first meeting on December 15, 1999.
The remedy I proposed to rectify the constitutional quandary of the first meeting of Parliament was that the royal proclamation and parliamentary notice issued before the first meeting of Cabinet should be set aside, and a new royal proclamation and parliamentary notice for the first meeting of Parliament be issued after the first Cabinet meeting.
The same advice would apply to the first meeting of the Penang State Assembly scheduled for 18th December 1999 so to make lawful in compliance with the Penang State Constitution.
I have now been advised that the Penang State Government had acted on this advice, setting aside the first proclamation by the Yang di Pertua Negeri and the State Assembly notice for the first meeting of the State Assembly made before the State Exco had its first meeting on 16th December 1999.
Following the State Exco meeting of 16th December 1999, a new proclamation
by the Yang di Pertua Negeri summoning the first meeting of the State Assembly
on 18th December 1999 was issued, followed by a new notice by the Penang
State Assembly Clerk, Kassim bin Md Isa, Setiausaha to all State
Assembly members, which reads:
Yang Berhormat,
Mesyuarat Yang Pertama Bagi Penggal Yang Pertama Dewan Undangan Negeri Pulau Pinang Yang Kesepuluh
Dengan segala hormatnya adalah saya diarah memaklumkan bahawa menurut perisytiharan yang dikeluarkan oleh T.Y.T. Yang di-Pertua Negeri Pulau Pinang pada 16 Disember 1999, T.Y.T. Yang di-Pertua Negeri telah menetapkan 18 Disember 1999 jam 9.30 pagi menjadi tarikh dan waktu bagi Menyuarat Pertama bagi Penggal Yang Pertama, Dewan Undangan Negeri Pulau Pinang Yang Kesepuloh. Tuan Yang di-Pertua Negeri bersetuju untuk mengecualikan notis 21 hari sebelum hari mesyuarat bagi membolehkan Enakmen Perbekalan 2000 dibentang dan diluluskan oleh Dewan Undangan Negeri sebelum 1 Januari 2000.
2. Soalan dan usul yang telah dikemukakan sebelum ini oleh Ahli-ahli Yang Berhormat masih lagi digunapakai untuk sessi Mesyuarat Pertama, Penggal Pertama Dewan Undangan Negeri Yang Kesepuloh yang akan bermula pada 18 Disember 1999."
With the setting aside of the earlier royal proclamation and State Assembly notice and the issue of a new royal proclamation on December 16, 1999 and State Assembly notice on December 17, 1999 after the State Exco had its first meeting, the State Government had regularised its earlier unconstitutional convening of the State Assembly.
Unfortunately, the Federal Government had refused to heed the advice of the DAP to similarly regularise the convening of the first meeting of Parliament on December 20, 1999, resulting in the constitutional case of the millennium, as all meetings of the new tenth Parliament, whether last month or for the next five years, will be infected with illegality and unconstitutionality.
(13/1/2000)