UNTIL the prime minister is officially sworn in, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong can still change his mind over who gets the country’s top job, said legal experts.

This means the palace could, at the 11th hour, consider an appeal from Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who claims that it is he and not Muhyiddin Yassin who has enough MPs on his side to form a new government.

This occurred in Sabah after the 1985 general election when the then governor reversed his earlier decision to appoint Mustapha Datu Harun chief minister.

Even if a prime minister has been sworn in, a legal challenge can still be filed by parties contesting the decision, the legal experts said.

“Until the PM is sworn in, the king can review his decision. This happened in Sabah recently as well as when Tun Mustapha was sworn in over Pairin. The governor reversed the decision he had made,” said constitutional law expert Dr Gurdial Singh.

Dr Mahathir and the Pakatan Harapan coalition he leads will attempt to appeal Yang di-Pertua Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah’s decision yesterday to appoint Muhyiddin to the office.

Bersatu, and 11 rebel PKR MPs had defected from PH on February 23, triggering the collapse of the 22-month old government.

Following a week of political manoeuvreing and U-turns,  Muhyiddin claimed to have cobbled together enough MPs from Bersatu, renegade PKR lawmakers and his political rivals Umno, PAS and Gabungan Parti Sarawak to form the government.

Muhyiddin presented the names of 114 MPs yesterday to the king who then announced that he would be sworn in today at 10.30am.

Dr Mahathir and Pakatan are contesting the numbers, claiming some of those MPs have switched sides last night.

They will gather at Albukhary Foundation at 9am today.

Dr Mahathir, who is the Langkawi MP, said yesterday the rival faction of MPs supporting Muhyiddin could not total 112 – the number needed to form the government

“At this moment, I have 114 MPs supporting me as prime minister. I have prepared a letter for the king explaining this.

“I hope the king will accept my letter and my explanation, which I will send to him,” he said in a statement tonight after chairing a Pakatan Harapan presidential council meeting yesterday night.

Even if Muhyiddin were sworn in, the decision could be brought to court, said civil liberties lawyer Fahri Azzat.

“I don’t see any appeal process against a decision by the Agong but it is something that can certainly be taken to court,” he said, adding that this was done when the Perak government collapsed in 2009.

That episode was triggered by the defections of three state lawmakers from the then Pakatan Rakyat coalition and the new government. The sultan had then appointed the menteri besar.

“The sultan’s decision was challenged and the case went all the way up to the Federal court” said Gurdial.

The same also occurred in Sabah after the 2018 general election when Musa Aman filed a legal challenge against the governor for appointing Mohd Shafie Appeal chief minister.

The court ruled that Shafie was the legitimate chief minister. – March 1, 2020.