Our Federal Constitution must be read in its spirit and essence. We cannot pick and choose and interpret it out of context or based on our whims and fancies.
Which of us would not understand if I said our constitution is based on a Westminster-styled government with parliamentary democracy, constitutional monarchy, and the separation of powers into executive, legislature and judiciary?
I could not be happier to read the latest decision of our apex court on the unilateral conversion to Islam of M Indira Gandhi’s three children. In the judgement, the court stated principles and implications far beyond the unilateral conversion issue.
The judgment was so beautifully written, some of which is worth repeating here.
The power of judicial review is in the hands of the civil courts. This power is inherent in the basic structure of the constitution. It cannot be abrogated or altered by Parliament by way of a constitutional amendment.
For once, it is clear that it is the civil courts, not the shariah courts, that were conferred the supervisory powers under our constitution to review administrative decisions.
More than that, the judgment also stated that certain provisions or principles as enunciated in the constitution are beyond the reach of Parliament to amend. To me, the constitution is now more than supreme! In other words, the inherent power of the civil courts to provide checks and balances in our constitution is beyond amendment.
Put simply, the judicial power of the federation is the civil courts, period.
Similarly for other principles as stated in our constitution, we must provide meaningful interpretations and jealously guard the workings of these principles.
When we claim we are a parliamentary democracy, there must be an implicit assumption of fair representation in the size and integrity of constituencies. There must be an implicit working mechanism that ensures transparent and free elections.
All institutions in the country – the royal institution, the legislature, the judiciary, the Election Commission, the police, the MACC and others – must give full meaning to what constitutes free and fair election.
The executive branch is always the most pervasive and powerful institution in a Westminster democracy. It is the fervent hope of all citizens to see that other institutions of government, especially the royalty and the judiciary, will exercise proactively whatever residual power is in their hands.
Right now, I think bigots and racists are picking the provisions in the constitution to suit their own agenda. They refuse to see the overarching principles and objectives of our constitution. Instead, they selectively pick a provision in the constitution and give it an interpretation based on their wild imagination and parochial agenda.
It is time to turn the tide.
TK Chua is an FMT reader.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.