THE call by Malaysians for the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to form a unity government instead of appointing a prime minister based on majority support will set a dangerous precedent for the democratic process, constitutional experts said.

They said in order to solve the current political crisis, Malaysia should look for legal solutions rather than a convenient one for short-term gain.

Others, meanwhile, said that repeating the mistake of appointing a government with a slim majority is a bigger threat to the country’s stability.

Malaysian Centre For Constitutionalism and Human Rights director Fahri Azzat said Malaysians are not looking at the long-term repercussions by urging the king to make such a decision.

“I think we are in a dangerous position because we are all defending the Agong to try and resolve this matter. What they are calling upon the Agong to do, there is a price to pay for that in the future that nobody seems to be talking about.

“As much as we see that as a solution now, I feel we are not looking further down the road, in the sense of calling upon the royalty to solve what is really a democratic issue.

“The problem here is that not enough people are looking at it from a legal standpoint and in Malaysia every single problem is seen through a political spectrum instead of a legal one and that is why we are in this mess,” Fahri told The Malaysian Insight.

The lawyer said the best course of action will be to call for a general election, but that is of course not possible due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

While Malaysia wants to solve this crisis as soon as possible, he said making such compromises will affect how future decisions are made.

“We keep racking up technical debts because we want easy compromises and easy solutions. Does it solve the problem? No. It messes up things down the line.

“We are not looking at it systemically and legally on how to solve this issue.”

Political scientist Wong Chin Huat has also hit out at those suggesting the Agong set up a unity government.

He said the king’s role is to select the candidate with the majority support and not who he thinks will be the best leader.

“Don’t use the lame excuse as this is an extraordinary circumstance that requires extraordinary measures.

“When you can break the rules this time as this circumstance is extraordinary enough, next time others can also break the rules for another circumstance that they think is extraordinary too.

“Integrity is not abiding by rules only when it suits us,” he said in a statement.

Yesterday, lawyer Ambiga Sreenevasan started a petition for the establishment of a unity government in order to ensure political stability at a time when the country is grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic.

She said the new prime minister should form a unity government to put a stop to party-hopping and reduce the political toxicity that has been prevalent since last year.

Unusual circumstances

Meanwhile, lawyer Mohd Haniff Khatri Abdullah said under such unusual circumstances, which sees a third prime minister being appointed after the 2018 general election, the king should be allowed to decide.

“The constitution says the king can appoint the person ‘in the opinion of the king may have the support of the majority’, these are subjective words.

“This is not a normal situation where there is a government formed after an election. Since the government itself can’t decide who should be prime minister, the king will decide,” he said.

Haniff said allowing the king to make this decision is not setting a dangerous precedent but rather going through the same motion that may lead to another political uncertainty.

“This is not setting a dangerous precedent. Setting a dangerous precedent is making the same mistakes over and over again while people are suffering.

“Our constitution is abused daily by the prime minister and the government and we allow them to do that and say that there should not be a repair before the next polls.

“If the constitution allows some other executive to carry out the constitutional function of checks and balances and put the system in order, we must trust in it.”

He said the king’s decree, reflected in the Dewan Rakyat speaker’s statement, it states that support for the prime minister must not be conditional.

“Let’s say if Ismail Sabri Yaakob has 114 clear votes, Muhyiddin is only offering a conditional support. On that basis, the king can set aside the nomination of Perikatan Nasional and take away the 50 seats.”

Haniff said assuming if others, in the king’s opinion, do not have a majority, he can then decide to declare a political emergency.

“The king can then declare a political emergency under Article 150(1) of the constitution and form a government to run the administration under certain committees while still allowing Parliament to convene.”

He added that if one looks at Muhyiddin Yassin’s cabinet closely, it was in fact a minority unity government.

“Muhyiddin’s government was a minority government. Even though he may have had majority support as prime minister, his party members were a minority in that government.

“To form the government, MPs from PAS and Umno supported him and that’s how they became a minority unity government, despite not having any opposition parties in his coalition.

“Muhyiddin’s government was in fact a model of a minority government attempting to carry out a unity government,” Haniff added. – August 20, 2021.