Saying More With Less On Grave Threats To Constitution

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The decisions of former chief justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat when she helmed our apex court for six years made us feel our Constitution was alive and well again after being trampled over in the past.
When addressing an Allianz Centre for Governance (ACG) event recently, she said more with less when asserting that the biggest threat to our Constitution is our politicians. She must be referring to politicians who held power in the past and who are holding power at present. Who else can it be?
And surely our ex-CJ was not referring to opposition politicians like the late Karpal Singh, who fought like a lion, defending the Constitution in Parliament and in the courts, or to Dr M Jeyakumar, who set a sterling example of serving and sacrificing, not for personal gain but for a better Malaysia.
The very fact that she sees politicians as a threat to our Constitution tells us a lot about our country and our politics. I suspect, without putting words in her mouth or imagining thoughts in her head, that she, too, knows a well-kept secret: we are a democracy with few democrats.
ADSInstead, we have a whole class of self-serving and venal politicians with a feudal, if not a Third World, mindset. For them, politics is the shortest way of becoming wealthy and powerful by putting the machinery of government at the disposal of a political machine that runs on race and religion.
Speaking of religion, she has spoken in the past of how she had been unfairly criticised, vilified, accused of being un-Islamic and labelled as an enemy of Islam. And more recently, Abdul Hadi Awang, the PAS supremo, spoke of our Constitution as a colonial remnant that must be replaced with syariah.
What compelled Tengku Maimun to speak of this threat to our Constitution now?
Political leadership mired in controversies? Dysfunctional politics that cannot correct itself? Lack of Rule of Law? Are the masters of mayhem waiting in the wings to “save” race and religion by setting aside the Constitution and declaring yet another “Emergency”? Could it be the existence of a “Deep State”?
How democracy enabled Hitler
But of one thing we can be certain: politicians can wilfully and utterly destroy the sanctity and spirit of a Constitution. Here is a frightening example: Adolf Hitler came to power following a multi-party democratic election in 1933 and was appointed chancellor in accordance with the Weimar Constitution.
But soon after his appointment, the Reichstag, the German Parliament, voted into law the “Enabling Act”. The longer name of this act is a chilling reminder of how politicians use nationalism to destroy a country’s Constitution: “The Law to Remedy the Distress of the People and the Reich (Enabling Act)”.
The Act granted Hitler dictatorial powers to “save” Germany. It allowed him to enact laws by decree for four years. The voting in the Reichstag was ugly, given the vile bullying of the opposition, but it was procedurally correct and constitutionally valid.
Adolf HitlerThe country quickly descended into collective madness. The judiciary was transformed from an august institution helmed by scholarly and steadfast judges into a tool of the Nazi regime. Jewish and socialist judges were purged. The Bench was decimated, and the Bar hung on by a thread.
“Special” courts were created to deal with “politically sensitive” cases. Draconian laws were passed, including the “Law against the Founding of New Parties” and “Race Laws”. Judges set aside legal principles, making decisions that served Nazi goals. The death penalty was used to suppress dissent.
Then came WWII. It ended with death and destruction on a humongous scale. Captured high officials and generals were tried for “crimes against humanity” and not for violating the German Constitution. They all pleaded: “We were carrying out orders”. Yes, they followed SOPs and the laws of the land.
Constitution under attack by the power-hungry
ADSThe point of all this is obvious: constitutions can be quickly subverted by politicians, whether maverick or madman, after being voted into office. By its very nature, the power bestowed upon them by a Constitution also gives them the means to lay waste to the Constitution of a country.
These mavericks and madman politicians are motivated by sheer greed or the belief that they alone know what is good for a people and a country. Many of them see an independent judiciary as little more than an inconvenience or some colonial baggage. Classic example: Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.
Surely it is this type of politics and politicians that Tengku Maimun is warning us about. Many politicians have an innate desire to rule without being held accountable. It’s a desire that is repressed and hidden from us, lest we reject them at the polls. Hence, their every word and action deserves our scrutiny.
At the ACG event, Tengku Maimun also spoke of there being no strong obstacles for the police to locate M Indira Gandhi’s child. We must take note of the forum’s title: “The Sanctity of Malaysia’s Federal Constitution: Threats, Solutions, and Impact on National Governance”. Her choice of words explains the obvious.
M Indira GandhiThere is more than a hint that we are in dangerous waters. The unhealthy nexus between the Executive and law enforcement is a threat to the Rule of Law, without which our Constitution will fall into disrepair. Malaysians these days often talk of a “Deep State” as “abductions” and “disappearances” become more common.
And “Be ye never so high, the law is above you” doesn’t seem to strictly apply any more. There are too many cases of selective prosecution, discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA), no further action (NFA) and more recently, returning stolen funds to get off the hook. The Rule of Law now feels like a torn and tattered canopy that offers little shelter or protection from injustice.
Lest our politicians forget, our Constitution, held in trust by our judiciary, is our original Merdeka gift, and it belongs to the people of Malaysia, and never forget that includes our brothers and sisters in Sarawak and Sabah.
Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka! - Mkini
MURALE PILLAI is a former GLC employee. He runs a logistics company.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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