Anwar Ibrahim must be elected to the legislature and win the confidence of the majority of MPs to be appointed prime minister.
PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.
PETALING JAYA: Lawyers say there is basis for Anwar Ibrahim’s urgency to be elected as an MP since he is likely to succeed Dr Mahathir Mohamad as prime minister.
They said the Federal Constitution states that the candidate for prime minister must be a member of the Dewan Rakyat for the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to make the appointment.
However, they added, any appointment would be dependent on the judgment of the king as to whether Anwar commanded the confidence of the majority in the event of a vacancy for the prime minister’s post.
The lawyers also differed over who should vacate a seat to see the reentry of Anwar in the Dewan Rakyat.
Zainur Zakaria said Anwar could contest in a by-election provided that one of the MPs from PKR was prepared to resign.
He said it could be Anwar’s wife Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail who is Pandan MP, their daughter Nurul Izzah (Permatang Pauh), William Leong (Selayang MP) or Johari Abdul (Sungai Petani MP).
“It does not matter who they are. Anwar has to be an MP first to be considered for appointment as prime minister,” he said.
Zainur said the most important factor for appointment was that Anwar commanded the confidence of the 222 MPs in the Dewan Rakyat.
The lawyer was responding to Anwar’s preference for an MP to vacate his seat for a by-election to be held rather than wait for a seat to be vacated due to death.
Anwar, at a press conference, was asked to comment on his next move after winning the PKR presidency uncontested, and whether he would go for a by-election that was natural or engineered.
Lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla said Wan Azizah should vacate her seat to allow Anwar to contest in a by-election.
“She previously said in an interview that she was holding the seat for her husband’s return to the legislature,” he said.
Haniff said it would be appropriate for Wan Azizah to vacate the seat since she would no longer be the PKR president, a post she had held for 20 years.
The lawyer, who is aligned to Mahathir’s PPBM, said whoever was elected in the general election would be reluctant to give up their seat.
“This is also not healthy for democracy as elections are about the people in your constituency. Vacating the seat just three months after the polls is showing disrespect to the voters,” he added.
Lawyer Ragunath Kesavan said Pakatan Harapan (PH) and PKR should obtain the views of the people since it was public knowledge that Anwar was the front runner for the prime minister’s post after Mahathir.
He suggested that Wan Azizah resign as an MP and trigger a by-election for Anwar’s return to the Dewan Rakyat.
“She could be appointed a senator and remain deputy prime minister and a Cabinet member holding on to her present portfolio,” he added.
Under the PH consensus, a power shift is expected to take place in two years. However, the 93-year-old Mahathir recently said that he could remain longer as prime minister if the people wanted it. -FMT
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