SHAH ALAM, 30 June: The former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, had to face legal action from Parliament when he was found deliberately ignoring Parliament when he decided to launch an attack on Iraq in 2003.
Legal action may be imposed on Blair in accordance with the Britain constitution which requires for any important decision made by the Prime Minister to obtain prior approval from the Parliament.
The Assemblyman for Paya Jaras, Mohd Khairuddin Othman, when commenting on the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association seminar in Westminster, London, which he recently attended, said that this shows that every action and decision made by the Prime Minister in UK is bound by the Parliament and not made on a whim when the matter involves the interest of the people.
“I saw that in UK, the PM is bound by the Parliament. Decisions made should receive Parliamentary approval. Previously, Tony Blair sent troops to Iraq without approval from the Parliament, after that he was defeated and rejected by the people during the elections.
“Now, even as the former PM, he faces legal action which will be taken by Parliament because he ignored the Parliament when he decided to send troops to Iraq,” he said when contacted by Selangor Kini today.
However, this is different from the freedom enjoyed by the Malaysian Prime Minister, whose every decision cannot be disputed, either by the Parliament of the opposition.
The Malaysian Prime Minister is also often not present in Parliamentary sessions, to a point that many questions put forward to him are answered by Ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department.
“Their openness is far ahead of our government and Parliament. In fact, Selangor is far ahead of the Malaysian Parliament, in terms of openness and freedom of information,” he said.
Previously, from 15 to 20 June, Mohd Khairuddin and the Assemblyman for Kinrara, Ng Sze Han, attended the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association seminar in Westminster, London, which was attended by representatives from all commonwealth countries.
NS
