Security Bill gives Najib-led council sweeping powers

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia’s Parliament approved a new law this week that gives sweeping security powers to a council led by Prime Minister Najib Razak, amid protests by opposition politicians and civil society groups that say its widespread powers could easily be abused by the government.

Speaking at a press conference yesterday, the secretary-general of the opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP), Mr Lim Guan Eng, lambasted the newly passed National Security Council (NSC) Bill for giving “the federal government wide-ranging powers without any check and balances, and without any control”.

Mr Lim, who is also Chief Minister of Penang, called the Bill “an attack on the state governments’ rights”.

The legislation, which was passed late on Thursday night by a majority vote, gives the NSC — chaired by Mr Najib — the authority to take command of Malaysian security forces and impose strict policing in an area deemed to face a security risk. Once a security area is declared, security forces would then be allowed, among other things, to impose curfews, and would have wide powers of arrest, search and seizure without a warrant.

The Bill would also permit the destruction of unoccupied structures if they were deemed to pose a threat and allow investigators to dispense with formal inquests into killings by the police or armed forces in designated security areas.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Shahidan Kassim said during Thursday’s debate that the Bill deals only with security threats in specific areas, while provisions for declaring an Emergency under the Constitution deal with large-scale crises.

Under the Malaysian Constitution, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, or King, must be satisfied that there is a need for a declaration of an Emergency. But the NSC Bill has no such requirement for a security area to be declared.

Opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) lawmaker N Surendran said the Bill placed no limits on the size of the security area, meaning the whole country could be declared a security area.

Similarly, PKR information chief Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh warned yesterday that the wording of the law was too open-ended and unclear in many of its definitions.

“Malaysia does not need a Bill like this, especially when there are other security laws in place. PKR believes this is a deliberate attempt ... to centralise power, which could lead Malaysia to becoming a dictatorship,” he said, referring to the Special Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) and the Prevention of Terrorism Act (Pota), which was passed in April.

Mr Wan Saiful Wan Jan, head of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas) think-tank, said it was inexcusable that the Bill was rushed through Parliament with little opportunity for legislative scrutiny or public consultation.

“It is a desperate act that will push us closer to a dictatorship and authoritarian rule ... The provisions under the Bill allow for the extensive curtailing and impingement of civil liberties, constitutional guarantees and fundamental rights.”

Mr Najib said in October the new NSC legislation was needed to protect Malaysia from terrorist threats. But he described the law as a tool for coordinating national security policy and did not suggest it would include the power to declare security areas or any changes to police privileges. AGENCIES