KUCHING: The Constitution of the State of Sarawak (Amendment) Bill, 2022 which seeks to change the term ‘Chief Minister’ to ‘Premier’ is viewed as unconstitutional, said Baru Bian (PSB-Ba’Kelalan).
He said for the proposed amendment, an amendment needs to be done to the Federal Constitution first.
“We have been referring to and depending on historical documents to support our assertion that Sarawak is a partner in the Federation of Malaysia and that we were accorded special status and protections as set out in these historical documents.
“It therefore stands to reason that we should refer to these historical documents with regard to the designation of the head of the Executive in Sarawak in the pre-Malaysia days.”
“Pre-1963, the government of Sarawak was headed by a Chief Minister, and this reference is used in all the pre-Malaysia documents including the Inter-Governmental Report (Chapter III and Annexes A and B) which were required to be given effect pursuant to the Malaysia Agreement 1963,” he said.
He said this when opposing the Constitution of the State of Sarawak (Amendment) Bill, 2022 in his debate speech during the second day of the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting today.
Consequently, he said in the FC, which is the supreme law in this nation, the head of the Executive of Sarawak is also referred to as the Chief Minister.
“In Article 160 (Interpretation), ‘Chief Minister’ and ‘Menteri besar’ both mean the president, by whatever style known, of the executive Council in a State.
“Also, wowhere in these historical documents and the FC is the word ‘Premier’ used in relation to the Chief Minister of Sarawak,” he said.
Citing Section of Bill, wherein Article 44 of the Sarawak Constitution is amended to include the clause: “any reference to the Chief Minister in any written law shall refer to the Premier”, he said, however such deeming clauses cannot be applied to the historical documents upon which this country’s foundations were built.
“Neither can the state legislature make laws to modify the Supreme law of the country,” he said.
By amending the term ‘Chief Minister’ to ‘Premier’ without concurrent amendment in the FC, he said thus it could be said that the amendment would destroy the basic structure of the FC, as it would render certain provisions meaningless and create confusion.
“Will this amendment be caught by Article 4 of the FC being inconsistent with the Supreme Law of the Land and therefore unconstitutional? It appears to me, in all probability, yes.
“Such unilateral amendment would create ambiguities, and the government should exercise caution in this matter,” he said.
Baru went on to say that what is more important is to take concrete steps which will benefit Sarawak and Sarawakians tangibly rather than rushing into a name change that may bring some self-gratification but may ultimately be criticised for being unconstitutional.
“The rest of the bill is acceptable except this term ‘Premier’ changing the term ‘Chief Minister’.
“If the Minister can take this out, I have no problem with the bill. My proposal is, take this term ‘Premier’ out, amend the FC first then come to this august house with this amendment.
“Just the way we did to Article 160(2) of the FC on the definition of ‘Native’,” he said.
