The DAP should never be allowed to form government anywhere at any time till it removes it offensive Chinese characters in its ads, its notices and its policy statements. It should either be Bahasa or English two languages people ought to know. If not tough.

The DAP are quick to call UMNO and the Barisan racist. Their actions speak louder than words. Thy have no Tamil, Malayalam or Punjabi on their web pages, their policy announcements or other statements but are happy to accommodate the Chinese. They are happy for the Chinese to be ambivalent about their citizenship and loyalties by not communicating in a language others can understand. But they want the same rights as others when they will not give others the same rights they want.

If the Sultans did not have those reserve powers as protectors of the rights of the mainly Malay population (something I am prepared to concede) then the Chinese will overrun the place like they did in Singapore and that I and many others not Chinese or Malays will not accept. Not twice in our lifetime.

I would rather be a second hand citizen in a Malay dominated country than a first class citizen in a Singapore style republic. We all know what that means if you are not Chinese.

an interesting comment indeed. However one cannot but see the glaring defects in the wording of the constitution from the quote you advance in furtherance of your argument.

the ‘social contract’ which commentators appear to refer to each time there is a debate about abuses of political authority and power is redundant. It is the “elephant in the room”.

That contract as it is referred to is not a dynamic document or agreement at all. Society has changed as has the power and position of the Malays.

What we are witness to is the assertion of their power under different cirumstances. At independence they were in a manner of speaking like the Palestinians of 1948 if I can draw an analogy to make my point simpler. They were bullied and had no real consensus on the issue of how an independent Malaya was to be governed. If they did it could have been better, more equitable or maybe even worse. But thats speculative.

Whats factual and this is where the Palestinian analogy may assist in understanding their position. The Malays today are a different and more empowered and informed generation questioning their displacement politically and economically at independence. What their s called representatives did in their name was not what they had a god given right to claim and enjoy as Malays in their own natural homeland.

As non Malays we have the opportunity to now re negotiate that position we all are entitled to and to do so without belligerence. It is a reality we face or we could as many do pretend that universal doctrines and rules do not exist and that our pre eminent position as merchants and settlers protected by the British and nurtured by the tengku and others is an equal right. It is not. It was a privilege we managed to enjoy tilll the Malay woke up.

It may not be pleasant but we have to re negotiate. For that we need leaders who are competent. Badawi is not one such leader, Anwar isn’t one and neither are Samy Velu or the MCA cadres.

What you see with the emergence of Hindraf is potentially what no emerging pluralistic democracy (thats what Malaysia sees itself as) wants in their midst. An otherwise benign democratic underclass electing their own to achieve their goals and access their share of the pie denied them crushed by illegal and undemocratic means.

Badawi accuses them of being all sorts of things because they displace his buddies in the corrupt MIC. So he orders in the armed forrces detains their leaders and literally starts a war,deprives them of basic rights and allows the forces to torture and kill them in detention thereby creating a division that did not exist before.

It is now a test of the nations fabric to see if they can cope with such a situation of plitical and racial stress. Something is brewing which is very unpleasant which I won’t go into any detail here.

The Sultan’s powers are no longer his to use without responsibly because the Federal constitution is not meant to discriminate and neither is the Sultan. he is merely a traditional ruler not meant to have any more political power than you or me.

Where a conflict of laws arise, the Federal constitution prevails. He is no longer allowed to appoint someone on the basis of religion or race alone to the detriment of other races and religions. Its universally held as being repugnant to international law and unlawful within the Malaysian context.

The wording of that article says “No person shall be appointed to the Mentri besar?” that in itself gives rise to debate and uncertainty about the validity of that statement and the correctness of the language used. It is gramatically incorrect and the language ancient and ambigous. It does not say no person shall (or may or will would have been more appropriatee word to use) to the OFFICE or POSITION of Mentri Besar which would have cured that defect of poor drafting.

In the use of his discretion he the Sultan erred and he chose to discriminate in breach of the Federal Constitution at least to the extent of a convention if not an article or statute that protects and preserves that right to equality before the law.

In the face of controversy the Sultan is often perceived and looked upon as a force for settlement of disputes rather than an agent provocatuer which this man turned out to be.

In concluding I say this. The Sultans of Malaysia themselves are not pure Malays. The Sultan of Perak is one such example. He is of Gujarati (Indian), Malay, Thai and Chinese extraction. His children who will succeed him are of even more mixed blood. How now would he justify continuing to hold office. is there not a vexed question of his leegitmacy if one has to be precise in adhereing to the black letter law?

“No person shall be appointed to be the Menteri Besar unless he is of Malay race and professes the Muslim Religion: Provided that His Highness may in His discretion waive either or both of the foregoing requirements of this pragraph relating to race and Mulis Religion whenever he shall consider it expedient so to do.

What His Higness did was rightly within His power.

The state of Perak has tested through the force and intimidation of the federal government an unconstitutional act of replacing a popularly elected government with a hastily assembled group of unrespresentative opportunists.

The Sultan of Perak may well have been the Lord President of the Malaysian High Court, but that in itself does not render him invincible or infallible.

The constitution of the state does not permit the Sultan to usurp the most powerful court in the state, that being the legislature, or for him to make a value judgements or political ones in breach of the limits of the powers he dereives from the Federal and State constitutions. And where a conflict in the two arise the Federal constitution must prevail at least to the extent of those conflicting provisions.

Additionally he must not act of his own volition but on the advice of the Mentri Besar and the attorney general. Their advice cannot be partial or unconstitutional either. Not the mentri besar to be but that in office. And he has failed to that extent.

It was not up to three individuals to address the sultan that there was no confidence in the existing government but for parliament in Perak (state assembly) to demonstrate that. To go outside that structure and to unseat a government is a coup. And thats exactly what happened laast week.

The constitution may be silent on a number of issues that unravelled in Perak last week as it may not have anticipated good men of conscience acting in such a perfidious manner in pursuit of personal ambition to act in the way they did. And most certainly when the constitutions of the federated states and the federation was created none of this was anticipated. There are conventions which are just as compelling on all of us as is the written word. And the convention that the sultan must not make decisions abuot parliament and its business was breached last week.

Where he is caught between the devil and the deep blue as he appears to have been in this case, then the Sultan must righfully dissolve parliament. An ignorant or undereducated soveriegn (and there are many of these) can be forgiven for making such an egregious decision bringing his office and his personal reputation into disrepute being tarnished by his recent conduct.

Not this one though who apart from his conduct in Spain during the Olympics which is found on world web sites now, served as the highest legal officer in the country for a time.

His family have a legal tradition which traditionally in Malaysia places them in a position of veneration by Malays and non Malays within and outside the state alike.

The words of his son Raja Nazrin are a shameful demonstration of the mindset of a benevolent dictator which role the Sultan’s are meant to have shed a long time ago.

The courts are the place for theatrics as he terms it. The courts are constitutionally there to protect everyone from an abuse of power by the soveriegns, petty dictators, those who can be bought and sold and those whose only claim or right to rule is the abuse of law sanctified by the use of state force.

The Sultan’s palace is quite clearly apart from his publicised romps and philandering, the place for the theatrics he espouses to but no those where the constitution is involved. For that the courts aare the rightful plance and he should in no way influence it with his thinly veiled threats.

An increasing tendency to this last from appears to have emerged under Abdullah Badawi through his total indolence in office. Those who instead see it as an opportunity to pull the strings behind the scenes are getting away with murder. Literally.

The sight of Malays who venerate their sovereign on the streets outside the Royal Palace bravely facing the Riot Police recently is an ominous sign the Sultan should heed to.

During the French Reveloution, an event in human history which has repeated itself in many other places from the Russian Boshevik to the fall of the Shah of Iran is littered with examples of benevolent despots suddenly being confronted with the stark truth. Their power comes from the common people. Not from spectres, crowns, sashes and bullet proof limousines bought with public money. And yes women in foreign countries who undress them for the camera.

The dignity of Raja Azlan Shah was stripped of him several years back. It is now his political dignity that he has shed for some political prostitues.

Beware the Ides of March.

Devil’s Advocate

-krazl-
http://www.krazl.com

In the future, do you think DAP is fool. They field Malay/Bumiputra Candidate… Orang Asli in Pinji..Chinese majority seat.

So do imagine … PAS will become CM any more

Do not to ideal in Politic.

Pls do no judge politic from social science view of point……

It happen in any country worldwide… i india. China Thailand

What happen to Tibet

The Malay will left with with slogan and nostalgia…

Chinese rich because money laundary …. They sell goods more expensive to Malay than. Now start demand everything even discount grantaed for Bumiputra to buy house 5% is quiry

Can you till me how many shophouses or shoplot own by Bumiputra in Ipoh How many percentage… They do not worry about ECONOMIC they already control Malaysian economic in any sort of bussiness from VCD cetak rompak, saundry shops, surat khabar lama bussiness …. small and big industries until big drug smugler bussiness and money laundry.

Melayu only in PASAR MALAM and small plot of MARA . Or MLM bussiness on line .. skim cepat kaya oriented and ladies with beuty shop outlet (no chinese or India coming). among themself with pamplet distribute in Masjid.

They now eye for POLITIC agenda. Hunger for politic… PAS with gentle is the right vehicle for such secret agenda in the long run.

Think about its .. pls do not to implicit in your thinking

Melayu pun sudah lupa guna bahasa sendiri untuk berbicara. orang cina dan thailadn guna bahasa ibunda dalam majlis-majlis rasmi. Melayu semangkin tepingir.. dapat sedikit udah muda lupa.

Worrior