The surest way to stop people from questioning the legitimacy of the new government is to evoke the name of the king. Once the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is mentioned, people are expected to clamp their mouths shut.
It is true that the king played a crucial role in breaking the political impasse by naming Muhyiddin Yassin as the new prime minister. No one disputes the right of the king to exercise his power under the Federal Constitution.
The palace intervention could be regarded as timely to defuse a potentially explosive situation.
But no one can deny that the accession of Muhyiddin to the seat of power was not through the mandate of the people. He came in by way of political intrigues and a royal decree.
It is only right and proper that the people should demand answers to the events that led to the downfall of Pakatan Harapan. It is their government that was thrust out of office by means most foul.
Despite the royal fiat, the political situation is still fluid. There is growing public clamour for Parliament to be the final arbiter in this simmering dispute.
There is no running away from the fact that in a parliamentary democracy, the august House holds the key to the survival of a government.
If Muhyiddin and his gang claim that they have the majority to form the government, give it the acid test in Parliament.
Show the country the new coalition can survive a vote of no confidence and emerge as the truly lawful government.
But PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, the wily politician that he is, is running scared.
He knows that Muhyiddin and his fledgling coalition will collapse like a house of cards if the opposition were to move a vote of no confidence against the prime minister.
So, Hadi comes up with this sinister line of thinking: a vote of no confidence against Muhyiddin is "akin to a no-confidence vote against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong". Effectively it means treason which means capital punishment for all those who showed disloyalty to the king, which means death by hanging.
Is Hadi trying to instil fear into the people? Is this religious diehard saying that sovereign power lies in the monarchy and not in the people? Is Muhyiddin only answerable to the royal throne?
One can only infer that Hadi wants to play palace politics by trying to make it a crime for people to question the royal decree. This way, Muhyiddin can be protected from the wrath of the people.
This way, PAS can get a firmer hold on the new government and eventually promote its brand of political Islam.
But the line must be drawn here: the fight for political legitimacy is not about questioning the constitutional right of the king to decide who will form the government. The dispute mainly has to do with the manner Muhyiddin came to be prime minister.
Hadi cannot pit the people against the monarchy by turning a political row into a showdown with the palace.
The people have no quarrel with the king, but they have plenty of bones to pick with Muhyiddin, and all those allies dumped in the dustbin of history but who desperately want to sneak back.
Hadi and Muhyiddin must not think that they can play politics with the people without getting their hands burned. Voters are mature and they know that the present government does not have the stamp of moral authority to govern the country.
The only recourse left to the Perikatan Nasional government is to call for a snap election. Let the people decide again who can rebuild a stronger house for the people.
PHLIP RODRIGUES is a retired journalist. - Mkini
This lebai has no shame
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