THE Regent of Negri Sembilan, Tunku Naquiyuddin Tuanku Jaafar, shows great moral courage in arguing for the restoration of the rulers’ immunity, stripped so unceremoniously by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who had showed a total disregard for the larger interests of the people of this country, and, equally as important, the constitutional role of the rulers in the rule of law, the basis of our national well-being.

Tunku Naquiyuddin is right to say that royal immunity should not cover criminal acts, for which our rulers should be held accountable, but in performing their constitutional duties, they must enjoy immunity from legal proceedings.

It says a great deal about public confidence in their rulers that whenever they find themselves in despair over the antics of politicians, it is to the palace gates they go for constitutional redress. We should never forget that the rulers individually, as well as collectively through the Rulers’ Conference, are very much part of the constitutional life of our country.

We should also demand, in the nicest possible way, a return to the original Malaysia Constitution, the unsullied and uncorrupted version that was intended to protect the interests and rights of all Malaysians. This is the least we can expect as part of the government’s reform process.

It is about time we brought fairness, justice, equity and decency, and, if I may be so bold as to suggest, sanity back into the governance equation of a society that has lived through a quarter of a century of “Cromwellian” rule by a man who had shown complete and utter disdain for the sanctity of our constitutional rights.

This is a challenge that the government must take up if its promises to reform our institutions are to mean anything at all to the people.

TUNKU ABDUL AZIZ, Kuala Lumpur

Source: NST – November 30, 2008