PORT Dickson MP Anwar Ibrahim will seek an amendment to the National Security Council Act 2016 (NSCA) in Parliament following his failed bid to get the Federal Court to rule on its constitutionality.

Speaking to reporters in Shah Alam today, Anwar said he will raise the issue in Parliament on why the Act needed to be amended.

“We need to go back to Parliament. This law is unconstitutional as it has taken away the powers of the Agong and passed it to the prime minister.

“How can we transfer such powers, especially when it comes to matters of declaring an emergency?”

“Such powers have always been in the hands of the Agong as a way to balance the powers of the prime minister in times of emergency.”

Yesterday, the Federal Court declined to answer the constitutional questions referred by Anwar on the law’s constitutionality.

The seven-member bench, in a majority 5-2 decision, held that it was not a proper case for the Federal Court to answer as the questions referred were abstract and purely academic.

Federal Court judge Nallini Pathmanathan, who delivered the majority decision, ordered the case to be remitted to the high court to be struck out.

Anwar had filed the originating summons in 2016 to challenge the constitutionality of the NSCA, claiming that its implementation was unconstitutional.

He had named the National Security Council and government as defendants.

Last March 14, the Kuala Lumpur High Court allowed Anwar’s application under Section 84 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964 to refer the matter to the Federal Court for determination of four constitutional questions.

The NSCA was passed by the previous Barisan Nasional government. – February 12, 2020.