KUALA LUMPUR: Pas Youth has expressed its support for Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) plan to make the Bahasa Melayu text of the Federal Constitution as the authoritative document.
Its chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari said the use of the national language will provide an accurate interpretation of the constitution by avoiding confusions that may occur in court.
He also said the move was made in the true spirit of the Federal Constitution which elevates Islam as the religion of the federation, as well as the aspirations of the social agreement that has been sealed years ago.
"This is in line with Article 160B of the Federal Constitution, which states that if there is any conflict or discrepancy between the national language text and the English language text of the Constitution, the national language text shall prevail over the English text.
"Furthermore, the authentic text of the Federal Constitution in the national language already exists and has been launched by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong since 2003.
"So, this is no longer a question of translation. This is a matter of implementation in order to make the text of the Federal Constitution in Bahasa Malaysia the final version that will be referred to by all," he said in a statement published on the party's mouthpiece Harakah daily today.
He also said that the effort should be welcomed by all as it is in line with the empowerment of the national language which is part of the national identity.
Recently, the AGC announced its plan to make the Constitution in Bahasa Melayu as the authoritative document.
Attorney-General Tan Sri Idrus Harun said this was in line with Article 160B of the Federal Constitution, which states that where the Constitution has been translated into the national language, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong may prescribe the text as authoritative.
He added there were also plans to reprint the Constitution to incorporate the latest amendments.