Monday, July 06, 2015

Late Bernard Khoo's posts just as relevant now as before

I revisited Zorro-zorro unmasked blogsite to look for a particular drawing which fits our present political situation in my own words, 'Too much dirt... we need better tools... to sweep under the carpet.'

On separation of power...

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2009
IN 1975, back when Justice Raja Azlan Shah (as his royal Highness then was, said this of the Federal Constitution:

The constitution is not a mere collection of pious platitudes. It is the supreme law of the land embodying three basic concepts:

One of them is that the individual has certain fundamental rights upon which not even the power of the State may encroach.

The second is the distribution of soverign power between the States and the Federation’

The third is that no single man or body shall exercise complete sovereign power, but that it shall be distributed among the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of government, compendiously expressed in modern terms that we are a government of laws, not of men.

This third concept alluded to by His Highness is better known as the SEPARATION OF POWERS.

His Highness’ wise words of yore must surely strike any right-thinking member of society as being correct.

Fast forward to 2007, when Justice Abdul Hamid Mohamad, sitting in the august Palace of Justice said:

What is this doctrine of separation of powers?.....It is a political doctrine under which the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government are kept distinct, to prevent abuse of power…..To what extent the doctrine applies depends on the provisions of the Constitution……The doctrine (of separation of power) is not a provision of the Malaysian Constitution even though, no doubt, it had influenced the framers of the Malaysian Constitution, just like democracy.

 Maha Balakrishnan, co-chair of the ConstiLC, in Off the Edge, ask:

"So what is this thing called the separation of powers? And what happened between 1975 and 2007 to make the upper echelon of our judiciary think  that it was no longer a part of our Constitution?"


 On frauds...





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