The Agong Has To Act

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What’s all that drama going on with our politicians descending on the Istana in the last few days? What do they want? They all want the king to tell the PM to reconvene Parliament as soon as possible. After all, Hamzah Zainudin has already said Bersatu is not afraid of Parliament.
But let’s start with Dr Mahathir Mohamad. He still wants to be the boss. He pleaded with the king to establish the National Operations Council (NOC) in the manner it was set up to deal with the 1969 racial riots. Mahathir is always very frank about what he wants. His supporters are excited with the idea; they think in this way Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin will be out, and so will his ministers. They expect Parliament to be recalled with a regular sitting. They believe by having a one-man rule, effective Covid-19 measures will be put in place, and we will all live happily ever after.
To make the NOC idea more appealing, Mahathir’s supporters tempted us by saying NOC will allow Parliament to be opened for regular sittings like in the earlier 1969 NOC. This is false. Parliament was reopened in 1971, 21 months after the NOC was established in 1969. There is nothing to suggest that under the new NOC, Parliament will be convened at all.
If we condemn the “Sheraton Move” where the government was set up by enticing MPs to defect from Umno, PKR, etc and regularly attract other political frogs to their side, how can we support a more brutal and shameful assault on democracy, which is a rule by one man and a committee? I hope the Istana will just dismiss the proposal and not waste precious time on it.
It is not our democracy that is hampering the effort to deal with the pandemic. What is hampering our efforts is having a government that probably has no majority. When a government has no majority, the prime minister is not a proper PM, but a pseudo one. The Constitution says the prime minister who governs must be one that has majority support in Parliament. It does not matter if he has popular ratings in all the surveys published by “friendly newspapers”. The question is - does he have support in Parliament?
When a country has a pseudo prime minister, he will be busy trying to maintain his government’s survival. He will not be focused on the pandemic. He will have to make do with incompetent ministers or officials in managing the crises because he can’t afford to remove them. This is not the way to manage a national crisis. A pseudo PM is by definition a weak leader. His weakness attracts the attention of other political scavengers (which may include the PM’s closest lieutenants) who will move in to take his place at any time, ensuring continued instability in the government. This is not the way to manage a pandemic.
So what does the king together with other Malay rulers need to do before their "lunch" on Wednesday? They need to answer a straightforward question which is the root of all our problems. Does the current PM have the support of the majority? The king’s extensive interviews with all the politicians, (including notably the MIC president, which has one seat in Parliament) should give him a fairly accurate picture as to whether the prime minister is a real one or a pseudo PM. This is important to determine for the sake of the dignity of the Malay rulers.


Why is that determination so important? Constitutional monarchs are required to act on the advice of the prime minister or the menteris besar at the state level. That’s what the Constitution says. What happens when a PM who has lost support refuses to advise the king to convene Parliament or end the emergency?
The king is not required to listen to or act on the advice of a pseudo prime minister or menteri besar. He is only required to act on the advice or listen to the real PM. A real PM is someone with majority support. And when some factions in Parliament question his support level, a real prime minister will say “vote on the matter”. A real prime minister does not run away from being tested on his support level; nor does he hide behind an emergency proclamation.
The chances are high that our current PM does not have majority support. Otherwise, the motions in Parliament for a vote of no-confidence would have been allowed. Chances are high the support is below the majority level because of intense efforts launched a few months back to recruit other MPs to support the government. Umno, too, may have a sizeable number of MPs who do not support the PM.
The king and the Malay rulers must know if our current PM has majority support or not. They are aware of the claim by an opposition leader that he has the support of 120 MPs. The easiest way to find out who has real support (as opposed to statutory declarations of support) is for the king to summon Parliament to convene. He no longer needs to wait for advice from the prime minister to do so. Let Parliament decide who actually has majority support. Why this simple process was not followed earlier astounded many people.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin
It’s not too late. To best manage this pandemic we need a government that is legitimate, accountable, and not distracted by political scavengers.
Gough Whitlam was the people’s prime minister of Australia but was removed as PM when he lost majority support in the senate. The governor-general, as the queen’s representative, had to act in accordance with Parliamentary rules. He sacked Whitlam. The governor-general then appointed Malcolm Fraser, then opposition leader as interim PM. Fraser was told to hold an election soon after. Elections were held soon and Australia was able to get back to its feet after years of political infighting.
If Parliament can be convened in June, the country will have the answer if we have a real PM. I am sure the rakyat are ready to support the current prime minister if he is a real PM. If someone else has the majority, the king can ask him to be the new prime minister. In the event that no one can command a clear, workable majority, the king can always appoint anyone he thinks will be suitable as interim PM to deal with the pandemic and at the same time prepare the country for a general election.
The people need to have direction in which way the country is heading. They need to be assured we are coping with the crises well. The king can provide the direction, remove the present uncertainty, and restore the confidence of the people in their leaders. - Mkini

ZAID IBRAHIM is a former de facto law minister.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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