He filed an originating summons on Tuesday at the High Court, seeking a declaration that the NSC Act was unconstitutional and that Articles 66(4) and 66(4A), which allow a law to come into force without the Agong’s assent, were null and void.

Anwar also wants an injunction to stop the National Security Council (NSC) from taking any action under the NSC Act until the disposal of the lawsuit.

He named the government and NSC as defendants.

Anwar’s lawyer, Latheefa Koya, said that the constitutional amendments in 1983, 1984 and 1994, had slowly taken the powers of the Agong. “The amendment to Article 66(4) had changed it from the way it was read after Merdeka Day,” she added at a press conference.

Parliamentary Opposition Leader Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said the lawsuit was to “reclaim the democracy of our country”. “We have to do something,” she said.

Anwar, who is in jail, has shown the way forward, she stressed. “The people have to fight for their rights.”

Batu MP Tian Chua chipped in that the lawsuit was to protest against the NSC Act. “The government must not take the people lightly.”

“The leaders will use any excuse to invoke the NSC Act,” he charged. “There’s no reason to make a law if you do not intend to use it.”

Under Section 18 of NSC Act, the NSC can advise the Prime Minister to declare a specific area as a security area if the place was deemed seriously “disturbed or threatened”.

An area can be declared a security area for six months, and the Prime Minister can renew the period, from time to time.

The Act also allows the security forces to arrest anyone, in the declared emergency area, without an arrest warrant, if it’s deemed that they had committed an offence or was suspected of committing one.

The NSC Act has been heavily criticized as an oppressive tool to stifle democracy.