Desperate attempt to subvert Agong's prerogative

 

There is a call by top Pakatan Harapan supporters like former attorney general Tommy Thomas and former Bar president Ambiga for Harapan to be given the first go to form a government because it is the coalition that has garnered the most seats in the 15th general election (GE15).

This is purportedly based on the Westminster model of democracy, along which our democracy is modelled.

And this call is gaining traction among lay supporters of Harapan, dejected that the coalition failed to obtain the 112-threshold to form the government with a simple majority or more than 100 seats as confidently predicted by PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli for it to cross the threshold by combining with other coalitions.

All these look like a desperate attempt to prevent PN from forming the government with other coalitions.

And this desperation is seen when Singapore’s The Straits Times (ST) reported a while ago that political enemies PKR president Anwar Ibrahim and Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi met in an eleventh-hour talk as the palace deadline loomed.

It’s like two enemies are meeting for their own survival's sake.

PH’s largest component party DAP agreed on Sunday night to Anwar’s move to rope in the Umno-led BN, according to ST citing sources.

But let’s just see how solid the argument is that Harapan should be given the first go simply because it has the highest seats based on the Westminster democracy model.

In any democracy, especially the Westminster model, when there is a hung Parliament, the leader of the party with the most number of seats will be given the first go to form a government within a specified period, say three days or one week.

When the time is up and if the party fails to form the government, the next party with the highest number of seats will be given the go to form a government, and so on.

UK example

The best example of this was the one highlighted by Thomas in his recent article:

“Perhaps the closest example would be the position in February 1974 when prime minister Ted Heath lost his majority in the United Kingdom general elections. From a total of 635 seats, Labour won 301, Conservative 297, Liberal 14, and others 23 seats.

“Heath, a Conservative prime minister, resigned although there were talks with the Liberal party to form a coalition. Instead, Harold Wilson, the leader of the largest party, was invited to form the government,” Thomas said.

Former attorney general Tommy Thomas

But what these desperate people forget is the Westminster model is based on political parties, not political coalitions. Wilson was appointed as the prime minister because it was very clear his party won the largest number of seats.

Unlike Malaysia, the election in the UK has always been party-based. Coalitions come into the picture not during the election but after the results, which will see horse-trading among the parties.

Perhaps to prevent ugly horse trading, the UK monarch then decided to invite Wilson to form the government.

So, if we base our situation on this, the party with the most number of seats in GE15 is PAS, and therefore PAS should be given the first go to form a government.

This is an apple-to-apple comparison (party to party) when compared with Thomas' comparison of an apple-to-orange comparison (party to coalition).

Thomas then went on to say that “a strong convention has developed in many parliamentary democracies that when no party or coalition is able to reach the magic 50 percent plus one seat to form the majority in the elected House, the constitutional monarch (like the UK) or head of state (like the president in India) will appoint the leader of the party or coalition that has the highest seats simply because that person enjoys the mandate from the voters in the just-concluded general elections to be given the first opportunity to form a cabinet…”.

This is wishful thinking because in the case of our GE15, the leader of the party or coalition that has the highest seats is not the same person.

Party vs coalition

The leader of the party with the highest seats is Abdul Hadi Awang, the president of PAS, and not Anwar Ibrahim, the leader of PKR.

But Anwar is the leader of the Harapan coalition that won the most seats. So when to use party and coalition as a criterion for giving the first go? Thomas conveniently ignored this. Why?

Pakatan Harapan chairperson Anwar Ibrahim

Simply, because he is a hardcore supporter of Harapan and an avowed enemy of PAS.

It is also wishful thinking because any party or coalition that failed to get the simple majority of 112 is not considered to have enjoyed the mandate of the people, even if the party or coalition concerned got the highest seats, period!

Moreover, the Westminster model is based on convention, whereas ours is a written one where the Constitution specifies it is the absolute prerogative of the King to decide who is the PM, along with the process to be determined by the King.

This Westminster practice has already been violated in Malaysia in GE14 when Umno, which was the party winning the most seats then, was not given the first go to form the government.

Instead, PKR with the second most seats was given the first go which lead to the formation of a Harapan government in 2018.

Granted, that in this case, Harapan then had crossed the 112-seat threshold but with a majority so wafer thin that when Bersatu declared it was leaving Harapan, the coalition lost its 112 majority.

Had it been a simple, firm majority, Harapan wouldn’t have lasted for only 22 months.

So, to begin with, the majority that Harapan gained in GE14 was as good as a hung Parliament.

Wait for Istana

So, it is best in Malaysia that we follow our own model of democracy when it is the Yang di-Pertuan Agong who will have a final say not only in determining who should be the PM, but also the process of arriving at this decision.

Leave it to the Istana to decide all these as there were two precedences on this in 2020 and 2021, the former when Harapan lost its majority, the latter when Muhyiddin Yassin was forced to resign on the chicanery of the court cluster of Umno.

Otherwise, questioning this is tantamount to subverting the King’s prerogative.

So, meanwhile, let’s wait for the deadline given by the Istana to all political leaders to submit their PM’s candidate along with statutory declarations.

And patiently wait for the outcome, which will be announced by the Istana.

Even if the announcement says it is Harapan that will form the government and Anwar is the PM, I would be happy just like I was happy in 2020 when the King announced Muhyiddin as the PM and in 2021 when His Majesty announced Ismail Sabri Yaakob as the PM.

And please, if this is the case, don’t be rude in calling Harapan a backdoor government or Anwar a backdoor PM! - Mkini

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JAMARI MOHTAR is the editor of Let’s Talk!, an e-newsletter on current affairs.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.