: There is no provision in the Federal Constitution that states a non-Malay cannot hold any position in the administration, Parliament or the Judiciary, said prominent constitutional law expert Emeritus Professor Datuk Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi.
Shad Saleem apparently put his view forward in response to an opposition leader who was reportedly questioned on the appointment of non-Malays for the posts of the Attorney-General, Chief Justice and Finance Minister during a recent by-election in Semenyih. “Perhaps the critics forget that our current Chief Justice is from Tuaran, Sabah, is as much, if not more, of a Bumiputra than the critics themselves! Sabah and Sarawak will not be amused at such an attempt to marginalise the Bumiputras of these states,“ he added.
Among them were Thomas Vernor Alexander Brodie and Cecil M. Sheridan who had been appointed as Attorney General while James Thompson had been appointed to the Chief Justice position from 1957 to 1963.Shad Saleem also rebuked claim that the AG is required to take an oath under the Holy Quran as absolutely false as only the oaths of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Deputy Yang di-Pertuan Agong under the Fourth Schedule have Islamic, religious elements.
In the same column, Shad Saleem also answered some of the criticism that accused the AG of racial bias and inaction in investigating the death of fireman Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim last year. On hate speech, he wrote in the column that in Malaysia it could be punished under several laws, including Section 505 of the Penal Code and Section 3 of the Sedition Act.