Aug 9, 07 11:13am Malaysiakini
PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim hailed the role of "advocate
extraordinaire of constitutional democracy" presently assayed by
Perak crown prince Raja Nazrin Shah in the often cacophonous national
debate over a slew of troubling questions.
"One of the foundation planks of the Malaysian polity is
constitutional monarchy," Anwar told malaysiakini.
"It is reassuring to find a voice from that often silent quarter
propound the merits of our founding documents like the Merdeka
Constitution," added the former deputy premier.
Anwar said Raja Nazrin's position as heir to the Perak throne, allied
to his standing as the son of a former head of the Malaysian
judiciary and his education at world-renowned wellsprings of rational
inquiry and discourse, all combined to give his public pronouncements
"pith and moment at a testing time for the Malaysian nation."
"He has become advocate extraodinaire of constitutional democracy at
a time when our democracy is being pulled every which way save the
direction it ought to: by the light of our founding documents, its
interpretation by our founding fathers, and by the settled
jurisprudence on salient aspects," he opined.
The Oxford-educated Raja Nazrin has recently used a series of high
profile public occasions where he was guest of honour to hold forth
in a tangential manner on a host of contentious issues that have been
the subject of often acrimonious public debate.
These pronouncements have been lauded by sections of the public as
reassuring expositions of stands taken by leaders who helped found
the Malaysian nation.
These stances, the nation's progenitors had contended, were based on
the postulates of the Merdeka Constitution.
New channel
Public perception of the meaning of these postulates has been
confounded by the pronouncements of present day political leaders
that are at odds with the ones held by the country's founding fathers.
This has further roiled the public debate on these matters.
"Amid the bellowing and screeching of recent months over
constitutional issues, Raja Nazrin's pronouncements have reassuringly
held the middle octaves,"Anwar said.
"His is the voice of recovered and refreshed memory amid the willful
- even diabolical confusion fomented by politicians who only seek to
pander to narrow constituencies."
Anwar hoped that Raja Nazrin would continue to speak out because
"adherents of the school of constitutional government in Malaysia
have been run ragged by the powers that be who are in stifling
control of the public space for healthy debate."
"His voice has opened up a new channel, one that is not easy to shut
because of the stature of its proponent and the non-partisan way his
expositions are couched.
"Raja Nazrin's role of advocate extraordinaire of constitutionalism
is a providential one for our troubled times," claimed Anwar.
"The forces for constitutional governance in Malaysia are fortunate
to enjoy his advocacy," he added.
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"Sangkancil" group.
To post to this group, send email to sangkancil@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
sangkancil-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/sangkancil?hl=en
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
----- End forwarded message -----
----------------------------------------------------------------
This e-mail has been sent via JARING webmail at http://www.jaring.my
No comments:
Post a Comment