AG proposes BM text replace English as authoritative version of Federal Constitution

PUTRAJAYA - Attorney-General Tan Sri Idrus Harun today proposed making the Malay translation replace the original English text of the Federal Constitution as the authoritative version.

To do so, he said the proposal requires the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's approval.

"The Federal Constitution acts as our cornerstone in implementing the separation of powers. Therefore, for the year 2023, pursuant to Article 160A of the Federal Constitution, the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) plans to reprint the Federal Constitution to incorporate the latest historic constitutional amendments.

"The AGC also plans to propose to the government that the prescription of the Federal Constitution in the national language to be the authoritative text in line with Article 160B of the Federal Constitution. These two plans are subject to the approval of the King,” he said in his speech at the opening of the Legal Year 2023 here, today.

Among the historic constitutional amendments made recently are the lowering of the voting age from 21 to 18 and automatic voter registration.

Apart from that, Idrus also said that the AGC has reprinted about 100 laws especially relating to the election in 2022 alone.

He said the constant amendments to the current laws reflect changes and that this was done to ensure that the most current and updated version of the laws is made available to the public.

"The revised and reprinted texts of laws are also available online via the Federal Legislation Portal Malaysia,” said Idrus. - BERNAMA