Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Gerakan to publish booklet to protect Federal Constitution, Rukun Negara

Jonathan Chen

PENANG (Aug 6, 2007): Gerakan will soon publish a booklet on the essentials and fundamentals of the Federal Constitution and Rukun Negara, following the Raja Muda of Perak Raja Dr Nazrin Shah's call to use the constitution as the basis of national unity.
Gerakan acting president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon said the booklet will reflect the spirit of the constitution, containing its essentials together with some brief explanations, to give the layman basic exposure to the supreme law of the land.
He said the booklet will be published in various languages and be first distributed among party leaders and members before going public.
Koh, however, could not give a time-frame when the booklet will be published.
"The public will be given some exposure to the basic provisions of the constitution," he told reporters after officiating at the World Engineering Congress here today.
"It is important to extract the essentials of the constitution with some explanations on the document so that the layman have a clear understanding that we are a system of government based on parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy, with freedom of religion and with Islam as the religion of the federation and state."
Koh was commenting on a speech made by Raja Nazrin at the inaugural Student Leaders' Summit 2007 held recently, where the latter had urged all Malaysians to protect the integrity of the constitution, as the supreme law of the land.
"Raja Nazrin's emphasis on the need to get back to the basics to better understand the true sprit of the constitution in fostering national unity is indeed a sound piece of advice to all Malaysians," he said.
The constitution, as described by Raja Nazrin, was a cleverly-crafted document which clearly provided for adequate checks and balances against excesses through the separation of powers between the executive, legislative and judicial branches, with each protected from encroachment by the other.
"Besides being a guide for all Malaysians to understand the concept and spirit of the constitution, I hope the booklet provides a foundation whereby party leaders and members can be united, and relations between those from other parties improved," Koh said.

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