KUALA LUMPUR – A legal rights group has slammed Bersatu Youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal’s proposal to amend the federal constitution to ensure that only a Malay Muslim can be prime minister.
Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) director Zaid Malek did not mince his words in condemning the Machang MP’s suggestion, claiming that the idea has no place in a time of heightened global tensions and criticism of apartheid policies relating to the Israel-Palestine war.
“It is unthinkable and outrageous that a sitting MP suggests introducing something akin to apartheid by attempting to legalise racism into the highest laws of our land.
“This proposal is textbook racism… Malaysia would have no moral authority left to speak out on the international stage, whether on Palestine or any other matter, if such an amendment is made,” Zaid said in a statement today.
Urging Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his administration to immediately reject Wan Fayhsal’s “abhorrent” suggestion, Zaid cautioned that “tampering” with the federal constitution is “dangerous, reckless and unnecessary.”
“Ultimately, Article 43(2)(1) stipulates that the prime minister must be a person who commands the confidence of the majority (of) members of the Dewan Rakyat. Even though race is not mentioned, by convention the prime minister has come from the majority race.
“Thus, the constitution allows flexibility and pragmatism. Limiting the role of the prime minister along racial and religious lines may fracture the fine balancing achieved by our constitution as it exists,” he added.
Besides that, Zaid pointed out Wan Fayhsal’s proposed amendment would be struck down in court, as “legislating racism” into the federal constitution would offend its basic structure doctrine recognised by the Federal Court.
“This means that the constitution cannot be twisted and mutilated to such an extent that it no longer carries the values of democracy and equality that was built into it at Merdeka,” he said.
“Any such amendment would also clash with Article 8 itself, which enshrines the principle of equality before the law. Introducing such a racist and divisive amendment into the constitution would ultimately destroy the very meaning of the constitution and the principles it upholds.”
Zaid also alleged that the “fearmongering” stoked by Wan Fayhsal and his “cohorts” have no basis in law, highlighting that the position of the Malays and Islam cannot be so easily altered as it requires the consent of the Council of Rulers, as stipulated under Article 159 of the constitution.
“The measure of protection in itself is already enough to dismiss the baseless fears conjured by (Wan Fayhsal).”
Yesterday, Wan Fayhsal had apparently dared Anwar to amend the constitution as a response to DAP veteran Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang’s recent statement of fact that the constitution does not explicitly prevent a non-Malay from becoming prime minister.
Wan Fayhsal alleged that Lim’s remarks, made in a dialogue with Malaysian students in Manchester, the United Kingdom, last month, had caused unease among Malays as the country’s majority ethnic group.
Lim, in his remarks to Malaysian students, had also said he did not expect a non-Malay to become Malaysia’s prime minister “in the next 100 years”, noting how long it had taken the United States – 230 years since its independence – to elect a Black American as US president.
Lim was called in by police on Wednesday to have his statement recorded over his remarks about a non-Malay prime minister, which he had also posted on his blog and Facebook. – December 15, 2023