Poll results of “Which do you think is the most supreme?”

Results of the Poll

The last poll on the Perlembagaanku website posed the question, “Which do you think is the most supreme?” and 78%, being the majority, voted for the Federal Constitution. This is in fact, the right answer as Article 4(1) of the Federal Constitution states that “This Constitution is the supreme law of the federation and any law passed after Merdeka Day which is inconsistent with this Constitution shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be void.” Essentially, this means that any rules or laws that are inconsistent or found to be violating any provision in the Federal Constitution must be nullified and be made void. This is usually enforced by the courts in their inherent power of Judicial Review. However, the reality is that the challenges against laws in the country on constitutional grounds have only succeeded less than 20 times in the courts.

Seventeen percent of the voters had chosen the Parliament as the most supreme because it can amend the Federal Constitution. This is an interesting result as Malaysia does not hold Parliament as supreme, unlike the United Kingdom. The fact that parliament can amend the Federal Constitution, may seem like it has more authority and therefore, seem more supreme than the constitution but this is not the case. Malaysia’s constitution may have been amended more than 600 times ever since the birth of the constitution and this may either be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on what and why it is amended but it still does not change the rule that we have constitutional supremacy. Under Articles 159 and 161E of the Federal Constitution, it has been prescribed that there are four separate procedures in an event that there is a need to amend the constitution. This includes simple majority, two-thirds majority, assent of Conference of Rulers and the assent of governors. It is not simple to amend it compared to normal laws to safeguard the constitution from abuse.

Only 5 percent voted for Yang di-Pertuan Agong as supreme. It must be said here that we live in a system of Constitutional Monarchy and the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, even though established as the head of state, has very limited powers. This includes, but is not limited to, appointment of the Prime Minister, power to dissolve Dewan Rakyat and calling for a meeting of the Conference of Rulers. But most of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s other powers such as proclamation of Emergency and dismissal of Cabinet members must be done only by the advice of the Cabinet.

We must keep in mind that all the laws and regulations around us must be in line with the Federal Constitution as the supreme law of the land and it would be wise to remind ourselves that although our constitution is not perfect, it could provide for the rule of law, liberty, fairness and justice in our nation, values that each and every one of us share. May the true spirit of the document be realised.

courtesy of PerlembagaanKu/MyConstitution