KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 27 — The Malaysian Bar has today voiced its opposition to any amendments to the Federal Constitution (FC) to confer ethnic exclusivity to the prime minister post, calling the suggestion unconstitutional under the basic structure doctrine.

Expressing the Bar’s dismay over the suggestion, Bar president Karen Cheah said the purported amendment would only serve to erode multiculturalism in Malaysia by displacing other races as “second-class citizens” unfit to serve their beloved homeland.

She said there was nothing in the FC that supports such calls to distinguish between races, citing the Reid Commission report’s clear findings before the drafting of the Constitution in that multiracialism in Malaysia had been taken into account and thus formed its basic structure.

“Calls to purportedly mandate the exclusive right of Malay Muslims to assume the role of the Prime Minister of Malaysia should be seen as anathema to the tenets of the FC and a disgrace to the memory of the founders of Malaysia.

“Such calls, if not rejected, will invariably lead our nation down the slippery slope of ignominy and, if left unchecked, towards complete apartheid,” she said in a statement here.

She said the Bar took note of the rehashing and rephrasing of these arguments due to ill-conceived statements made by irresponsible parties, which only serves to stir up the hornets’ nest for their political ends as these groups have made no effort to verify their statements against the provisions under the FC.

“The Malaysian Bar asserts that the citizens of Malaysia must pull itself out of this quagmire.

“The social contract that binds all Malaysians is the recognition that all Malaysians are equal under the law — regardless of race, religion, descent, place of birth or gender.

“This is premised on Article 8 of the FC which, as one of the fundamental liberties, has a special place as a central pillar of the FC and forms the basic structure of our FC,” she said.

Article 8(1) states that all persons are equal before the law and entitled to equal protection of the law.

Article 8(2) provides that “there shall be no discrimination against citizens on the ground only of religion, race, descent, place of birth or gender in any law” or in a list of other matters, unless such discrimination is expressly authorised by the FC.

Therefore, any purported suggestion that only a certain race should be allowed to take on the mantle of prime minister by operation of law regardless of competency and merit, betrays a fundamental tenet of the FC and amounts to defacing the Malaysian identity, she added.

Citing more examples, Cheah said Article 153 of the FC entrusts the Yang di-Pertuan Agong with the responsibility of safeguarding the special position of the Malays and the legitimate interests of other communities.

“Nothing in the FC supports the notion that any one race stands supreme over others insofar as the appointment of the Malaysian Prime Minister is concerned.

Thus, Cheah said any attempt to enact laws contrary to Part II of the FC, including Article 8, should be struck down and deemed unconstitutional.

In his speech to Malaysian students in the United Kingdom last month, DAP veteran Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang said he hoped Malaysia would not have to wait as long as the United States to have a leader from an ethnic minority.

However, the 82-year-old politician said it was unlikely that a non-Malay would become prime minister in the next 100 years.

In response, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s Youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal had called for the Federal Constitution to be amended so only a Malay can become prime minister. - malaymail