YOURSAY | Constitution protects everyone not just majority

YOURSAY | ‘Someone once said a majority only means that all the fools are on one side.’

COMMENT | What if Kelantan people reject Federal Constitution?

ACR: This article foretells the future of this country if the “Green Wave” is not checked, notwithstanding that for the moment, the purported challenge to the Federal Constitution appears to emanate from the predicament faced by the Kelantan legislature.

I hope the Election Commission is reviewing electoral constituencies given the obvious lopsided constituency delineation in effect where urban constituencies are more than 10 times the size of rural ones.

The 13th Schedule of the Federal Constitution states that the number of electors within each constituency in a state ought to be approximately equal after taking into consideration the disadvantages in a rural constituency.

As columnist S Thayaparan has stated, I didn't expect legally trained Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Abdul Karim to espouse majoritarianism and to risk offending the Constitution our ancestors enacted.

In any case, our Constitution had already been decimated countless times mostly during the 22-year administration of former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad.

Someone once said a majority only means that all the fools are on one side.

Man on the Silver Mountain: We are a federation of parliamentary democracy, albeit a constitutional monarchy. That’s non-negotiable and set in stone.

The only way that a people or a state does not accept the Federal Constitution is to secede from the federation.

That’s why Hassan’s statement can be dangerous and perhaps borders on sedition. If a state secedes, it means a break in the federation it once was.

It is even more difficult for a Malayan state to break away, as they were once part of Tanah Melayu.

It would probably be easier for Sabah and Sarawak to do so, like Singapore since they were already a nation respectively, before entering the federation based on mutual willingness.

As for the majority doing as they like, well, they cannot. There is a limit to that.

The Constitution is the protector of every citizen. It was formed to protect everybody from their rights being trampled upon.

So, you have the Constitution for that.

VS: It is not the people. It is mostly bigots and politicians who create such problems. All these irrelevant laws were created by the PAS-run government to remain relevant.

The Constitution already has these laws. Just a copy-and-paste job. Malaysians are peace-loving, and cosmopolitan in general.

They do not care what race or religion you belong to when they communicate. It is our politicians who are overly concerned, as it is his rice bowl to create issues.

Our elected politicians divide and create issues to stay relevant. It is as though they have nothing better to do.

Most are poorly educated to understand what they are there for, so they play race and religion to survive.

They always preach that they cannot do this or that, never anything positive.

Libra: Yes sir, they are all nice people seeking majority wishes and peace-loving.

To change the Constitution and make it aligned with the majority, which seems okay. Even PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang comes across as a nice person.

Now the real danger is not with them. It is the resurgence of the fanatics that will destroy everything.

We have seen it many times in history, whether it was the Nazis, the Japanese army, the Russian army, the ethnic cleansing in Rwanda and other areas in the world that allowed ordinary men to become devils.

The so-called peace-loving people stay silent. Then what to do? That's why not knowing is a sin. You allow it at your peril.

The dangers are hidden but only the wise know how to prevent them.

Proof of pudding always in the eating: I am doubtful the Kelantanese know much about the Constitution but instead leave it to their state government to ensure full compliance wherever necessary.

Surely the PAS government would have known that what they were doing was against the Constitution.

They could have just phoned the Attorney-General Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh and asked.

Or maybe they just didn't care in their zeal to go to heaven.

So, now they have been caught with their pants down, the easiest thing to do is blame someone, anyone, which is the time-tested strategy of incompetent authorities all over the world.

Plan B is to blame the minorities.

Mario T: It is a clear suppression of the will of the people through religious indoctrination.

Thus, they are subdued and at the mercy of the religious leaders.

The young people realise there is no hope of staying in the state, and they leave to earn a living in other progressive places.

If Kelantan continues the way it is and with full syariah compliance, it will remain backward and radicalised.

Malaysian.1548: From another perspective, Hassan's statement can also be taken as a challenge to examine why 90 percent of Kelantan voters keep going for the extremist option, and take steps to address it.

OceanMasterII: People don’t support PAS because of their brilliant economic or social programmes - they support PAS because they believe they are the keepers of the faith.

There is a Roman proverb that says, "Give the peasants bread and circus, and they will never revolt."

Not sure about the bread, but PAS has a lot of circuses for the people of Kelantan.

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