It’s only fair to make Razaleigh the interim PM

 

From Zaid Ibrahim

I know our great lawyer Gopal Sri Ram said that there was no such thing as an interim PM. But don’t be deterred by what he said, for he was just being technical.

When we talk of an interim PM we are referring to a PM who is not going to hold the office for long, only during the period of transition, say for 12 to 18 months, to facilitate a general election. He then steps down when the people have voted in a new prime minister, someone who has a working majority in Parliament. The country then hopefully goes back to being normal and avoids the stigma of a failed state.

The fact that the prime minister acts in an interim capacity does not mean he has no majority support.

The current prime minister is not well, and has been in hospital. His ministers in the present government are so unpopular and detested by a huge majority of the people that if they continue to govern any longer it will cause irreparable harm to the country.

The rakyat, that is to say the Malays and the non-Malays, for once are united that they do not want this government. I believe the royalty, too, are not terribly excited about this government, judging by the lengthy statement issued from the Istana after the last Rulers’ Conference.

When Parliament convenes, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong should immediately appoint an interim prime minister. The dire situation the country is in requires such a step to be taken without any delay. Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah is an ideal candidate to act as interim PM until the next general election. He is an elder statesman from Umno and with the exception of those aligned to Bersatu, is likely to receive the support of senior Umno figures.

For Pakatan Harapan it will be foolhardy for them to reject such an appointment as Tengku Razaleigh will ensure fair play for all political parties during the general election. Anyway DAP and PKR president Anwar Ibrahim must learn to work together with “centrists and moderate” Umno leaders if they want to get another bite at being in the federal government. There are not many of this type of leaders left.

As for Sabah and Sarawak, what we know so far is that they are opposed to anyone from Pakatan Harapan taking over from the present PM, but they are open to Tengku Razaleigh as interim PM pending the general election. So there you are, Tengku Razaleigh will have majority support if the King were to appoint him.

I know the question of whether the current PM still commands a majority or not is a lingering issue. But the King has to act to determine this fact. It is no longer tenable to allow the Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat to keep this dysfunctional government alive, without clear evidence that he has a majority support. His health, and the internal dissension within Bersatu following the appointment of a Deputy Prime Minister from Umno, are factors which could have eroded the support for him, last shown at the Budget meeting in December 2020.

Aside from the question of majority support, the King is entitled to take a view on whether the PM is capable of running the government effectively in the present circumstances. The law allows the King wide latitude to take into account all factors within his knowledge in determining whether the PM has majority support and is not incapacitated in running the government

Tengku Razaleigh’s appointment will be poetic justice for him. In 1987 he lost by 42 votes in dubious circumstances when the lights went off at the counting centre in Putra World Trade Centre during the Umno leadership contest. He then lost his challenge of the election result in court which coincided with the dismissal of the Lord President and four other judges.

Giving him a short stint as interim PM is only fair dinkum by all accounts. - FMT

Zaid Ibrahim is a former law minister and a former MP for Kota Bharu.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.