KUCHING: A lawmaker has called on the federal government to allow Sarawak to be temporarily exempted from enforcing the conditional movement control order (CMCO).
Muara Tuang assemblyman Datuk Idris Buang said he appealed to the wisdom of both the state and federal governments (particularly the federal government) to appreciate the situation in Sarawak where the status quo needed to be preserved.
“While Sarawak respect the legislative supremacy of federal laws, the federal government should also respect Sarawak’s different environment and setting which require different measures,” he asserted.
Idris, who is also a member of the Advocates Association of Sarawak (AAS), said the temporary exemption could be done through the re-publication of an amended version of the CMCO notification.
He was asked to comment on a statement by AAS president Ranbir Singh Singha who questioned whether or not the federal issued MCO enforced in the state and the control measures of Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) had been gazetted as orders as required by Section 15 of the state’s Protection of Public Health Ordinance, 1999 (PPHO).
Ranbir said even if SDMC’s control measures had been gazetted and have the force of law in Sarawak, its decision to maintain the MCO instead of graduating to CMCO might be inconsistent and thus prohibited under PPHO once measures under CMCO are gazetted by the federal government.
Idris said personally he believed AAS’s views were sound and highlighted a vital point, especially the operationality of the CMCO which is a federal law.
He said this was not a question of which law prevails should there be inconsistency between federal and state laws.
“The case in point here is the fight against Covid-19 and how effective certain laws are made in a particular state. Sarawak has its own peculiarities which must be tackled exclusively,” he said.
Idris did not deny that there were certain similarities in what happened in other states with that in Sarawak.
“But the SDMC is given the fullest picture of what happened in the state and the whole information it possessed might not be available at the federal level or fully understood by people who formulated the federal law and measures.
“Since there is a conflict in terms of measures being taken, Sarawak, for example, need to preserve the status quo and not follow CMCO,” he explained.
Idris said both state and federal governments, of course, could suspend the gazetted notification in Sarawak.
He said previously there were many federal laws which had been passed and gazetted but had not taken effect in Sarawak.
He then cited tourism tax which was not extended to Sarawak, adding that the gazetted CMCO could be treated in the same way.
“We have a list of them (the federal laws not enforced in Sarawak) … because the condition in Sarawak got to be tackled according to the Sarawak way.
“We’ve immigration autonomy and many others which are related to the movements of foreigners to and from Sarawak. So, if we open business too soon, the freedom of the people would be affected and difficult to manage such as the unnecessary orders to reject people who want to enter the state.
“I feel that Sarawak status quo must be preserved. In general terms, ignorance of the law is not a defence but enforceability of the law and promulgation is necessary because of the requirement of due process and the sense of administration of justice. In the name of fairness, make it necessary for the gazette to be made public so that the people would know the do’s and the don’ts that the law required.
“In the West, this is called a sunshine government in terms of the due process of the law. No question of the law becoming effective once gazetted, but in our case, we want a temporary exemption of the gazette,” he said.
