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History
A People's Constitution Proposals by the AMCJA-PUTERA - part 2 |
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In this series we publish the People's Constitutional Proposals proposed by the AMCJA-PUTERA in 1947. The Introduction (in the last issue) is a valuable historical document which tells of how the UMNO came to be formed and its subsequent break-up, leaving a rump organisation which the British chose to talk to. This instalment produces Part 2 of the Proposals which critically examines the British plans. THE PEOPLE'S CONSTITUTIONAL PROPOSALS FOR MALAYA, 1947 Drafted by Representatives of the PUSAT TENAGA RA'AYAT or PUTERA, and the ALL-MALAYA COUNCIL OF JOINT ACTION between the months of May and August,1947, and approved by two Conferences of Delegates from the PUTERA and the ALL-MALAYA COUNCIL OF JOINT ACTI0N on July 4–7, and on August 10,1947, together with a full exposition, and an analysis of the Government's Constitutional proposals. ART 2 CONSTITUTIONAL PROPOSALS AND EXPOSITION. TERRITORY. SECTION 1:— There shall he established a Federation, to be called the Federation of Malaya, or Persekutuan Tanah Melayu, consisting o)f the nine Malay States of Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Johore, Kedah, Kelantan, Trengganu and Perlis and of Singapore, Penang and Malacca. The name "Federation of Malaya, or Pesekutuan Tanah Melayu" suggested by the Working Committee has been adopted by us. We adhere in principle to the policy advocated by the Working Committee that a Federation should be formed on the basis of partnership between His Majestv and Their Highnesses the Malay Rulers, as sovereign constitutional monarchs (see Report of the Working Committee, paragraphs 14, 22 and 27). |
| The Proposals of the Working Committee,
however, do not, in our opinion, succeed in putting this policy
into practice. : (i) The sovereignty of the .Malay Rulers is shorn of all reality by the requirement that they must accept the "advice " of His Majesty's Government through the High Commissioner and the British Advisers, in the exercise of their entire legislative and executive authority, with the exception of matters of Muslim religion and Malay custom. (See Section 4, Model State Agreements, and Section 8, Draft Federation Agreement). The word 'sovereign" as applied to a state has the clear meaning that that state is not subject in the exercise of its jurisdiction to the interference or control of an alien government. Any requirement that a ruler should "undertake to accept the advice" of an alien government is clearly a thin disguise for the fact, that such "advice" amounts to full control, and is therefore incompatible with sovereignty. Whether such "advice" is given frequently or not, whether it is accepted willingly or not, is beside the point, which is that the ruler must accept that "advice," whether he likes it or not. The ordinary meaning of the word "advice" carries with it the necessary implication that the advice given may be rejected, at the discretion of the person advised. An "undertaking to accept advice' is therefore a contradiction in terms. The "undertaking to accept advice"which was contained in ther former treaties with their Highnesses the Malay Rulers, and is now repeatod in the Model State Agreements of the Working Committee, is a legal fiction designed to conceal as for as possible the fact that British rule in Malaya, whether in the Colony of Singapore, or in the Settlements of Penang and Malacca, or in the Mala.y States, is absolute and unfettered. The Proposals of the Working Committee preserve the unfettered power of His Majesty's Government in Malaya., under the cloak of the same legal fictions as may have deceived past generations, but which are now no longer able to conceal from the people of Malaya the naked fact that Malaya is, from Perlis to Singapore, a British colony. (ii) This failure to place the reality of Sovereignty in the hands of the Malay Rulers made it impossible for the Working Committee to place them in the position of constitutional monarchs. In our view, and this is today the generally accepted view, a constitutional monarch. is a sovereign ruler who delegates his legislative and executive authority to the elected representatives of his people. This, for instance, is clearly the meaning of the term "constitutional monarch" as it is applied to His Majesty. The requirements, therefore, that Their Highnesses should undertake to "accept advice" precludes them from being either sovereign or constitutional, since, once the sovereign powers have been |
| transferred hy such an undertaking to
an alien power, they cannot be delegated to the elected representatives
of the people. That full legislative and executive power is vested, under the Working Committee's Proposals, in His Majesty's Government through the High Commissioner and the British Advisers, is made very clear by a reference to the Draft Federation Agreement (Sections 8, 17, 55, 57, 58, 91, 105 and 106), and to the Model State Agreements (Section 4). The effect of these provisions is as follows: (a) IN THE FEDERATION. Full executive authority is, of course, entirely in tlie hands of the High Commissioner under Section 17 of tile Draft Federation Agreement. Full legislative authority also rests in his hands: (i) He can veto any legislation passed by the Federal Legislative Assembly, by withholding his assent under Section 57. Section 57 (.3) shows very clearly thiat it was intended that this power to withhold assent should be a real veto power. That Malaya is to he, in practice, a Crown Colony, is confirmed by the words of this sub-Section: "When a .Bill is presented to the Hiph. Commissioner for his assent, he shall ...... subject to ...... any instructions addressed to him ...... through a Secretary of State, declare that he assents or refuses to assent thereto ...." It would he almost impossible to state more clearly that Malaya is, in this proposed Constitution, to be ruled from Whitehall as a Colony. The only effect of the Working Committee's Proposals is to drape a few more valueless and transparent pretences over the nakedness of colonial domination - pretences which are, however, no longer able to achieve their purpose of concealing this fact from the people of Malaya. (ii) On the other hand, the High Commissioner can impose any legislation His Majesty's Government wishes, under Section 105, if he "considers that it is expedient in the interests of ....... good government." The words "good government" are obviously all-embracing. With these two powers - of veto on the one hand, and of imposition on the other - it will be seen that the. Federal Legislative Assembly will be legislative only in name, and will, in fact, be as powerless as the "Advisory Council" which now exists. (b) IN THE MALAY STATES. Section 4 of the State Agreement, read in conjunction with Section 91, 105 and 106 (2) of the Federation Agreement, places exactly the same powers of veto and imposition of legislation in the hands of the British Advisers in the Malay States as are held by the High Commissioner in the Federation. |
| (c) IN THE SETTLEMENTS. Since the Straits Settlements (Repeal) Act1946 did not in any way alter the status of Penang and Malacca as Crown Colonies, there is, of course no question but that full legislative and executive authority remains in the hands of His Majesty's Government through the High Commissioner and the Resident Commissioners. That full legislative and executive authority is to be vested in the High Commissioner is also expressly stated in paragraph 20, page 8 of the Report of the Working Committee: - " ..... authority in the internal affairs of the Federation, whether legislative, executive, or administrative, will be delegated to the High Commissioner by the joint action of His Majesty and Your Highnesses." This is merely a tactful way of saying that Their Highnesses delegate authority to the British Government, and the effect, therefore, is to make no real alteration in the Malayan Union policy of perpetuating the colonial status of Malaya. In our Proposals, however, we have sought to place Their Highnesses in the position of truly sovereign and truly constitutional monarchs. (iii) The full implementation of the Federal policy would also necessitate the assumption by His Majesty of the position of constitutional monarch,as we have defined it, in relation to the people of such territories formerly included in. the Colony of the Straits Settlements as are to be brought into the Federation. The fact that the Straits Settlements (Repeal) Act 1946 did not affect the position of Penang and Malacca as colonies, easily escaped attention in in the Working Committee's Proposals, since the whole of Malaya was to be brought, in fact, if not in legalistic theory, under the direct administration of His Majesty's Government as a colony. The definition of constitutional monarch given above would not, however, include His Majesty in relation to the people of a colony, since His Majesty's jurisdiction over such people is delegated, not to the elected representatives of such people, but to the elected representatives of the people of Great Britain and Northern Ireland assembled in Parliament. The full implementation therefore, of the policy of creating a Federation based on the partnership of His Majesty and Their Highnesses as sovereign constitutional monarchs would involve the following four essentials: (i) The vesting in Their Highnesses of all the rights, prerogatives and powers appropriate to the Ruler of a sovereign state. (ii) The delegation by Their Highnesses of full legislative and executive powers to the elected representatives of their people. (iii) The delegation by His Majesty of full legislative and executive powers over such territories formerly included in the Colony of the Straits Settlements as are to be included in the Federation, to the elected representatives of the people of such territories. |
| (iv) The further delegation, by the
elected representatives of the people of the various States and Settlements,
of such powers as would be necessary lo ensure a strong central government,
to the Federal Government. We have incorporated these four essentials in our Proposals. Very strong constitutional bonds will be. established by the associatioin of His Majesty in a. Federation of this type. Such an association of the sovereignty of the British Crown with that of Their Highnesses the Malay Rulers would mean that the sovereignty of the Federation of Malaya incorporated the sovereignty of the British Crown, and would thus establish a closer association of the Federation with the British Crown than exists in the case of the Dominions, whose sovereignty is more loosely associated with that of the British Crown. _______________________ Singapore should, we suggest, be included in the Federation, in the absence of any adequate reasons for its exclusion. His Majesty's Government has contented itself with the bare statement that it is not its policy to include Singapore in the Federation at the present time, but has given no substantial reason to justify this policy. His Majesty's Government has clearly stated, however, that it is its policy to include Singapore in the Federation at some future time. No adequate explanation, however, has been given of the circumstances which militate against immediate inclusion. There appears to be a tendency on the part of His Majesty's Government to treat the inclusion of Singapore in the Federation as some novel and unforeseen proposal, never previously considered or suggested, and which though admitted to have some possible advantages, is a step that requires a period or interval for deep deliberation and careful consideration before any further action is taken This tendency completely overlooks, in our view, the long and close historical association of Singapore with the mainland. This historical unity has forged a sense of unity which, before the war, over-rode, and today still over-rides, the merely technical and legalistic differences of status. This sense of unity reached a new level of consciousness during the three-and-a-half years of Japanese Fascist occupation. The present strength of this sense of unity can be shown, for example, by the fact that the political parties of Malaya and the Pan-Malayan Federation of Trade Unions, are organised on a Malaya-wide basis which includes Singapore. It has been suggested that it is for the "democratic" legislatures of Singapore and the Federation to agree on the inclusion of Singapore. This, in our view, is a suggestion made only to delay the settlement of this question, since no account whatever was taken of the wishes of the people, either in the inclusion of Penang and Malacca into the Federation, or in the exclusion of Singapore; moreover, the proposed legislatures referred to are not democratic. |
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The separation of
Singapore from the mainland has, therefore, led to a deep and growing resentment
among the people, of Malaya at this arbitrary and autocratic action on the
part of His Majesty's Government. The overwhelming weight of opinion, both
in Singapore and on the mainland, has been, and still is demanding the
inclusion of Singapore. The demand has gathered added force from the experience of the past one-and-a-half years, since the restoration of civil government, during which time it has been convincingly demonstrated that the separation of Singapore from the rest of Malaya is uneconomic, and results in great administrative difficulties and anomalies. This arbitrary decision, running counter to the whole historical development of Malaya, and to the present vital need of the people for a constitutional focus in the form of a genuine citizenship based on allegiance, cannot but lead to the impression that imperial interests continue to over-ride the interests and welfare of the people of Malaya.# (to be continued) For Part 1 Go to the top |
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Incorporating Asia and West Pacific Network for Urban Conservation (AWPNVC) articles on heritage places and issues www.lestariheritage.net |
| ______ INDEX Point to the article that you want to read, and CLICK Index page Book review The captive mind Chinese words in Malay Food guide Hen or rooster? Letter from Pulau Tikus A people's constitution (2) Poh Choo's wedding (9) The war in the jungle(2) |
| ____________________ The Penang File Issue 43 |