Johor Bill to be amended

NUSAJAYA: The controversial Johor Housing and Real Property Board Bill 2014 to be tabled today will include amendments to some sections relating to the role of the Ruler.
Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the amendments are being made as the state authorities are taking into consideration the reactions of various parties, while preserving the system of constitutional monarchy.
The original Bill had been seen as unconstitutional as it provides the Ruler with specific executive responsibilities and powers to:
» appoint four representatives to the Johor Housing and Real Property Board and revoke such appointments;
» determine the remuneration or allowances of all the members of the board;
» approve the appointment of the director to be the chief executive officer of the board;
» wind up and dissolve the board; and
» approve the establishment of a corporation to maintain, develop or manage any housing plan, project scheme or industry.
Among other things, the original Bill also provides that the "Ruler or the state authority may at any time direct such person as he may appoint to make an investigation of the books, accounts and transactions of the board".
"There will be amendments made, specifically that the role of the Ruler would be on the advice of the mentri besar, especially on the appointment of the board members," Mohamed Khaled was quoted by Bernama as saying.
"What is most important is that the other sections (on the role of the Ruler) will be deleted. Only that (the appointments) concerning the role of the Ruler to appoint (the board members) with the advice of the mentri besar. The others will be replaced by the state authorities," he said in the winding-up speech of the debate at the state assembly.
Mohamed Khaled said the amendments are also being made to show that the state government is sincere in setting up the board and does not want it to seem that the executive power is being handed to the Ruler although the contents of the new enactment are similar to that in the Act at the national level.
He said it was incredible that the Bill which will be tabled today had been criticised as though the Ruler would have absolute power over the board or had executive power when all the provisions in the Bill were similar to that of the Johor Corporation (JCorp) before this.
Mohamed Khaled stressed that the provisions in the enactment will not be against the principle of constitutional monarchy as it is read together with the state constitution which states that action taken by the Ruler will be upon the advice of the mentri besar.
"If the Johor enactment is against the Constitution, then all the federal Acts are also against it.
Today, the Bar Council urged the state government to withdraw the Bill which "unnecessarily and improperly seeks to involve the Ruler in matters of executive government and administration".
Bar council president Christopher Leong said the Bill is in breach of the provisions of the Eighth Schedule of the Federal Constitution and Article 7 of the Constitution of Johor, which vouchsafe the concept of a constitutional monarchy.
“Given that the Bill makes reference to the ‘state government’, ‘state authority’ and ‘Ruler’ as three distinct entities, they cannot then mean the same thing in the Bill.
"Therefore, the provisions in the Bill that accord to the Ruler specific executive responsibilities and powers mean that these responsibilities and powers are exercisable by the Ruler himself,” Leong said.
“The idea that a Ruler should have executive functions with respect to an agency of the state government, such as the board in this case, is a departure from the principles of constitutional monarchical government.
“This was not envisaged under the Federal Constitution and the Constitution of Johor. Under such a system of government, the exercise of executive functions and powers must lie with the state government,” he pointed out.
Meanwhile, PAS said today it is against any move which can tarnish the concept of constitutional monarchy.
Its deputy president Mohamad Sabu said as such the party is against the enactment of the Johor Housing and Real Property Board Bill 2014.
“PAS continues to support the constitutional monarchy and any attempt to involve the institution of the rulers in the exercise of executive powers will be a contravention of the constitution,” he told a press conference at PAS headquarters here today.