EXCERPTS OF PANELLISTS’ DIALOGUE
In
of the“ Yang Di-Pertuan Agong”, the constitutional monarch of the nation. The Council of Rulers agreed on the position being rotated every five years among the State Sultans. It was a unique arrangement, and one that perfectly reflects the relationship and collaboration between federal and state governments,” Tun explained.
He continued,“ When the Malay states became independent in 1957, it became independent as a federation. The administration of a federation is far more complex than that of a union. There has to be a division of power between the states and the central government. This was worked out well by people who were quite knowledgeable about the administrations of the Malay states. Some of the former British civil servants understood the sensitivities of the
EXCERPTS OF PANELLISTS’ DIALOGUE
Associate Professor Dr. Azeem Fazwan Ahmad Farouk Director, Centre for Policy Research and International Studies, USM
“ order to talk about federalism, one has to understand what we mean by federalism. Federalism essentially refers to governmental systems whereby there is a clear division of power between the centre and the constituent parts. These constituent parts are referred to by provinces, cantons( in Switzerland) and in our case, states. It has been discussed in many academic journals that federalism as a concept is fairly new. It is claimed that it was invented by the Americans, that before the United States of America, there was no federalism.
If we look at the history of the US we can then understand why the Founding Fathers chose federalism as a new form of government for the thirteen colonies. One of the primary reasons was because the Americans had a huge distrust of power. So by choosing federalism, they could ensure that the central government would remain weak. Having said that, we need to understand that there are also different theories on how to conceptualise federal-state relations.”
Associate Professor Dr. Shamrahayu Abdul Aziz Lecturer, IIUM
“
When
I read the constitution, I found that there are two different treatments given to the Semenanjung Tanah Melayu states compared with Sabah and Sarawak. When we formed the Federation of Malay States in 1957, there was no formal negotiation between the states and the federation in terms of the power they wish to retain. But when we formed Malaysia in 1963, Sabah and Sarawak made many requests. These are stated in the 18- and 20-Point Agreements( Perjanjian 20 Perkara Sabah & Perjanjian 18 Perkara Sarawak), of which some of the points have been included in the constitution.
Therefore the constitution will be the ultimate reference. We have a written constitution. It is the supreme law of the land. What does it mean? It is the final reference and it is also an agreement between the states forming the federation. If we have any dispute, we have to go back to the constitution. When it comes to federal-state relations, there is a specific provision under Part 6 of the constitution. Part 6 contains 8 chapters which describe the relationship between the federal and the state government.”
10 PERDANA MAGAZINE 2016