Questions over validity of Najib’s oath-taking ceremony

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Questions over validity of Najib’s oath-taking ceremony

As the nation awaits Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s decision to dissolve parliament, a former top cop has spotlighted a discrepancy in Najib’s oath-taking ceremony three years ago, which results in questions being asked on its legality.
Former Kuala Lumpur CID chief Mat Zain Ibrahim pointed out this discrepancy in one of his open letters to solicitor-general Idrus Harun today, following Najib’s oath-taking ceremony held on April 3, 2009, to become the sixth PM of the country.
United States President Barack Obama had also made a mistake when reciting his oath in taking office for his first term in 2009. However, in Obama’s case, before he began work the next day, he took the proper oath.
Mat Zain said the oath of the executive and others is listed in schedule six of the federal constitution.
“Saya…, setelah dipilih (atau dilantik) memegang jawatan… dengan sesungguhnya bersumpah (atau berikrar) bahawa saya akan dengan jujur menunaikan kewajipan-kewajipan jawatan itu dengan segala daya upaya saya, bahawa saya akan menumpahkan taat setia yang sebenar kepada Malaysia, dan akan memelihara, melindungi dan mempertahankan Perlembagaannya.”
Vouch of secrecy
“Saya… dengan sesungguhnya bersumpah (atau berikrar) bahawa saya tidak akan memberitahu atau menzahirkan kepada mana-mana orang sama ada secara langsung atau secara tidak langsung apa apa perkara yang dibawa untuk pertimbangan saya atau yang akan saya ketahui sebagai seorang… kecuali sebagaimana yang mungkin dikehendakki menunaikan dengan sewajarnya kewajipan-kewajipan saya sebagai yang demikian atau sebagaimana yang mungkin dibenarkan dengan khas oleh Yang Di-Pertuan Agong.”
Changes in structure
However, Mat Zain said a perusal of the recording of the oath-taking ceremony revealed that the words “dengan jujur” (with honesty) is only said after the words “menunaikan kewajipan-kewajipan jawatan itu”.
“Najib has also added the words ‘kepercayaan dan’ (trust and) before the words menumpahkan. Besides this, in taking his vouch of secrecy, Najib had replaced the word ‘mana-mana orang’ with ‘sesiapa’ (anybody) and also the word ‘sewajarnya’ with ‘sempurna’ (perfection).
“A check with the oaths taken by the six new deputy ministers after him shows that their oath remains intact compared to the ones by Najib. By replacing the two original words with new ones, Najib had effectively change the structure and meaning of the vouch of secrecy.
He said the changes in words and structure are not in the federal constitution and this raises questions as such changes are not recognised by the constitution which is the highest document in the country.
Mat Zain said with the deputy ministers taking their oath as it is, only proves there is no change in the structure.
Najib’s name discrepancy
The former top cop said Najib is also embroiled in a discrepancy over his name as in his oath ceremony he had placed his name as Muhammad Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak.
“However, in documents filed in Najib’s affidavit with regard to Anwar Ibrahim’s sodomy case, he affirmed and sign as Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak as contained in his identity card, without the word Muhammad.
“The question remains whether Najib’s oath to be the prime minister and vouch of secrecy is valid when he uses a different name from that in his identity card as the name is different from the oath which he took and recognised by the federal constitution,” he said.
Obama, Mat Zain said, repeated the oath ceremony in January 2009, when he misplaced the word truthfully.
The former top cop said Karpal Singh had in 2008, during the first parliament session, questioned the validity of the new MPs taking their oath when they did not raise their right hand.
“If such an action of not raising the right hand can raise questions on the validity of the oath, the actions done by the present prime minister is worse than this,” he reasoned, and demanded that the Attorney-General’s Chambers shed light on this issue.
The AG’s Chambers, in its commitment to ensure the constitution is protected and laws are being followed, should comment on this even if this involves the PM, said Mat Zain.
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