Thanks to Mahathir Mohamad, the big picture for the six state polls have been clarified – whether the promotion of a multi-racial Malaysia runs foul of the Malaysian Constitution.
Ranged on the side of those whose position is that Malaysian constitution is that of a plural Malaysia are the first three Prime Ministers of Malaysia who were also UMNO Presidents – Bapa Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman, Razak Hussein and Hussein Onn.
The second and third Prime Ministers also supported the Rukun Negara as the nation-building principles for a plural Malaysia.
The position of the fourth and seventh Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, was that the Malaysian Constitution was that of a muti-racial Malaysia, especially when he announced the 30-year Vision 2020 and is nine strategic challenges, and supported the Rukun Negara principles, but his position changed after September 2021 when he wrote the book “Capturing Hope – The Struggle for a New Malaysia” after he was toppled from power in the Sheraton Move political conspiracy in February 2020.
Mahathir has proved to be quite a political chameleon. I remember his announcement at the Gerakan delegates conference on September 29, 2001 that Malaysia was already an Islamic state, completely against the pronouncement of the first and third Prime Ministers of Malaysia.
Tunku Abdul Rahman on his 80th birthday on 8th February 1983 at the grand dinner hosted by the Barisan Nasional, attended by all the top Barisan Nasional leaders including the then Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, gave the most important message to the Barisan Nasional leaders not to turn Malaysia into an Islamic State. This was the front-page headline in all the language newspapers the next day.
Tunku stressed that Malaysia was set up as a secular State with Islam as the official religion and this was enshrined in the Constitution, which must be respected and adhered to.
Four days later, when celebrating his 61st birthday on 12th February 1983, the third Prime Minister of Malaysia, Hussein Onn, gave full public support to Tunku’s call to Barisan Nasional leaders not to turn Malaysia into an Islamic State.
Hussein said it was “neither wise nor practical” to turn Malaysia into an Islamic State as Malaysia could still be functional as a secular state with Islam as its official religion.
Mahathir ignored both the Reid Constitution Commission in 1957 and the Cobbold Commission in 1962.
The 1957 Reid Constitution Commission report, Paragraph 169, recommended that the Constitution for Malaya on the attainment of independence, should made it very clear that Malaya is a secular state.
The Cobbold Commission Report 1962 reported on the views of the people of Sabah and Sarawak on the proposed formation of Malaysia. One of the reasons for the reservations of the people of Sabah and Sarawak in supporting the formation of Malaysia was whether the new Federation would become an Islamic State. The British members of the Cobbold Commission recommended that the provision that Islam is the official religion should not be extended to Sabah and Sarawak but the Malayan government members gave the guarantee that such a provision would not jeopardise Malaysia’s character as a “secular state”.
Mahathir made the “929” announcement which received the support of Gerakan, to undercut PAS but now Mahathir and the PAS President, Hadi Awang, are now in the same boat.
In his book, “Capturing Hope”, Mahathir wrote:
“Now, I have spent my entire life and career being ‘pro-Malay”. If what people mean by that term is the dedication of time and energy towards helping the Malay community progress, especially in terms of education and income security, then, yes, I am certainly pro-Malay. Being pro-Malay does not entail being anti-everyone else. However, they are those who desire to be seen as ‘Malay-first’ even ahead of being Malaysian, and this enabled them to promote the idea of forming a ‘Malay-Muslim Government’. In Malaysia where more than 30 per cent of the population is made up of non-Malays, this is not possible. And sure enough, the new ‘Malay-Muslim Government’ of the Perikatan Nasional under Muhyiddin actually depended on non-Malays to survive”.
Mahathir wrote this in September 2021.
But these are no more his views.