KUALA LUMPUR, May 29 — The Malay Consultative Council (MPM) has urged that a National Master Policy be formulated guided by three thrusts, namely the will of the Malay Rulers, the Federal Constitution and the Rukun Negara (National Philosophy).
Its secretary-general Datuk Dr Hasan Mad said MPM was making the call because it was worried about efforts towards reforming national institutions and abolishing existing policies.
“It is crucial that this policy be immediately formulated and the government must discuss it with the Conference of Rulers, which will become the custodian of the (master) policy.
“Like the Sedition Act 1948, this policy cannot be discussed openly even in Parliament... what more to amend, without obtaining the agreement or consent of the Conference of Rulers,” he said in a statement here today.
He added that with the National Master Policy, any change or abolition of these policies must first be referred to the master policy.
He added that the set-up, reshuffle or abolition of any of the institutions must be consistent with the provisions of the master policy.
“This means that the reshuffling or abolition of any of the policies or institutions must first obtain the consent of the Conference of Rulers,” he said.
Hasan said MPM viewed seriously recent developments including the efforts by several parties to ”reset” the national development and prosperity agendas.
“The first reset is in the form of reforming the policies, with attempts being made to demolish all policies which preserve the position of Islam as the religion of the Federation and the special rights of the Malays (and Bumiputeras).
“Worse still, there are some who question the existence and role of the institution of the Conference of Rulers in this country,” he said.
He said the second reset was in the form of reforming institutions in the effort to deny the position of Islam, the Conference of Rulers and institutions which protect the special rights of the Malays and Bumiputeras.
For instance, he said the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) was reported as having demanded that Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) be opened to all races, especially Indians from the B75 (75 per cent of Indians in the lower income bracket) category.
“MPM agrees that there must be improvements in the policies, existence, functions and role of each of these institutions. Make recommendations for improvements. Why should a policy or an institution be abolished?” he said. — Bernama
