6.2   Purpose of the Constitution

Presentation

From the discussion about the Constitution earlier, hopefully you have seen the importance of the existence of the Constitution to this country. In general, the existence of the constitution is to serve some purposes that can be summarized as follows:

1. To have a form of fair governance
   Due to the existence of various races and ethnicity, the Constitution has to look after the interests of all the races and ethnicity especially the interests of the Malays, the owner of the land. Thus, the Constitution guarantees the rights of all races and ethnics without bias towards one race only.
   For example, the Constitution guarantees and protects the special rights and privileges of the Malays but at the same time it does not deny the rights of other races and protect them. That is why even though Malay language is made as the official language of the country, there is no restriction for other races to learn and teach other languages.


2. To prevent rulers from abusing their powers
   The Constitution determines the power of rulers. It means, the rulers (the YDPA, Sultans, Yang Dipertua Negeri, Yamtuan Besar Negeri) must act within the jurisdiction set by the Constitution. For an example, a ruler is not allowed to leave the country more than fourteen days unless his leave is due to the official function. The rulers have no absolute power as in the previous.

6.2   Purpose of the Constitution

3. To control the movement of the government and the people
   As the highest law of the country, everyone in this country is subject to the Constitution including the government. The government cannot act as it wishes even though it has power over the people. The Constitution not only provides powers to the government but also to the people through freedom of rights. Thus, this avoids the government from dominating power. There are limits to what the ruling body can and cannot do. For example, an individual cannot be arrested without being told the reason for the arrest. If the reason is kept silent and it is proven the arrest is wrong, the person can take legal action against the party who has arrested him.


4. A tool to solve disputes
   As the highest law of the country, every single party must resolve disputes or any problems based on the Constitution. For example, if there is dispute between the federal and state governments, both parties must refer the issue to the Constitution.


5. To ensure the Sustainability, Peace and Stability of the country
   As an independent and sovereign country, Malaysia needs to sustain its existence. The sustainability can be achieved by maintaining the laws and the rules. The existence of the Constitution as the main laws and rules of the country will preserve the identity of Malaysia as an independent and sovereign country. Do you still remember that the Constitution also plays a role to solve disputes and problems? By defining the power and authority of the government, setting the limitations the power and guarantee the freedom and rights of the people with limitation, the Constitution manages to store the peace and stability of the country.