But stars cannot shine without darkness.
— Anon
The unknown, the unknowable and, by extension, total ignorance, repose in darkness as a choice. In politics, the unknown and unknowable are legislatively protected and placated by the Official Secrets Act, oaths of secrecy and secret verbal covenants.
Governments use it very effectively citing national security as justification. Citizens accept it often not understanding the concept of limited government legalised by a written constitution.
Legislatures, usually turn off the lights, and then complain there is no light to enable the passage of asinine laws attempting to gain respectability. “The law may be an ass but it not be so asinine as that,” declared Lord Reid in R v. Smith [1975] AC 476, 500.
“But who are its parents,” asked the former Malaysian Chief Justice Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad as reported in his book ‘The Truth Shall Prevail — Speeches, Papers and Articles.’
The right to control and the right to make law is vested in the chattering mind of legislatures influenced by Westminster’s mantra blindly accepted by England’s former colonies. The darkness, we are assured, is dispelled by creating written constitutions that actually keep these “independent nations” in a perpetual state of entrapment and enslavement.
Written constitutions perpetuate darkness as it is not of eastern tradition, custom or usage. Vedantic principles may have influenced the UK and other European political thinkers not to have a written constitution.
Thankfully, section 3(1) of the Civil Law Act 1956 (Act 67), a veritable exit-the darkness law, declares in no uncertain terms that if a local law is available in Malaysia, then that would do, there is no reason or requirement to look for an English precedent, aphorism, edict, illustration or example. We can see much better in the bright lights of Eastminster.
It is said that Malaysia exited the darkness of unfettered law-making when Tun Suffian LP pointed out that the Federal Constitution disallows parliamentary supremacy, and that “they cannot make any law they please.” Ah Thian v Government of Malaysia [1976] 2 MLJ 112 at p 113.
The light that the then Lord President turned on continues to burn while some try to change this good bulb to make it dimmer. Afraid of sunburn?
The recent turn of events with the resignations and royal appointments of two prime ministers in rapid succession does not equate to a constitutional darkness when the 220 MPs voted using SDs instead of an Article 43(2)(a) Federal Constitution requirement for a vote of confidence in Parliament. Carl J. Friedrich remarked that the idea of emerging constitutionalism rests upon the distrust of power in his ‘Limited Government: A Comparison.’ The veil of the ‘rule of law’ has been torn asunder.
The love of and for power and wealth is labelled as a shining bright light representing economic growth and prosperity while the money-printing machines work 24/7.
Many years ago a Native American lawyer asked the taxation agency in an American federal tax court why the government did not increase its money printing efforts so that tax money becomes redundant. The power to tax is a power to destroy, and the power to print money is the power of controlling darkness!
The darkness also creates the right to go to war, or abandon the responsibility to prevent war. The recent debacle in Afghanistan with the sudden unexplainable withdrawal of US troops saw the Taliban taking over the government whose president fled into the darkness!
The American media is screaming for action to liberate Afghan loyalists and foreigners while the Biden administration balks. The light of the 25th Amendment in the US Constitution has started growing brightly threatening to replace Joe Biden.
International banking after WW2 with the creation of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund is another arena of darkness (read: secrecy) where private deals between the elites are innovated, developed, premised, promised and concluded.
It’s a perfect set-up as long as human capital (labour) is abundantly available and assured. Exploitation is regularly measured and determined in darkness through legislation like the Adamson Act of 1916 that carved out the eight-hour shift per day per worker in the USA.
Malaysia is experiencing a constitutional penumbra where shades of convention, law, custom, usage and practice are on a collision course when they should be on a collusion-inspired journey to assure the citizenry that the rule of law matters while shedding blinding light on the strengthened relevance of GE-15 now that 18-year-olds have won the suffrage.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the New Sarawak Tribune.
