Written By : Ranjini
PETALING JAYA: Dr Mahathir Mohamad or Muhyiddin Yassin could make a comeback as prime minister if they garnered sufficient support from MPs for the Yang di-Petuan Agong’s assessment, a retired judge said.
Gopal Sri Ram said the criteria is that a prime minister candidate must be a member of the Dewan Rakyat, and the King appoints one who “in his judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority”.
“There is no provision in the Federal Constitution to bar them,” Sri Ram said when asked if Mahathir and Muhyiddin, who resigned yesterday after losing majority support, were qualified to reassume the post of prime minister.
Muhyiddin is the Bersatu president whose party has 31 MPs, while Mahathir is the chairman of Pejuang, which has four MPs.
However, Sri Ram said, in appointing a prime minister, the constitution does not mention political parties but merely individual MPs.
Mahathir is the Langkawi MP. He was first prime minister for 22 years from July 1981 to October 2003 when he was the Kubang Pasu MP.
He was reappointed prime minister when Pakatan Harapan (PH) won the 14th general election on May 9 , 2018 and occupied the office for 22 months.
On Feb 24 last year, he resigned as the prime minister after Bersatu MPs led by Muhyiddin and a faction led by former PKR deputy president and current Gombak MP Azmin Ali left PH to form Perikatan Nasional (PN)
Mahathir failed in his attempt to return as prime minister last year though it was said that he had the support of 114 MPs.
Instead, Muhyiddin, the Pagoh MP, was appointed the prime minister on March 1 last year to form a government with Barisan Nasional, PAS, Sabah and Sarawak-based parties and individual MPs after the infamous Sheraton Move.
However, Muhyiddin’s 17-month old government collapsed when a faction within BN-Umno retracted support for him after submitting statutory declarations (SDs) to the King.
He is now the caretaker prime minister pending the King’s assessment to find his successor.
Sri Ram said support for Mahathir, Muhyiddin or any other candidate could be determined by submitting SDs or the King interviewing MPs in making his judgment call.
“It is hoped the new prime minister will convene a Dewan Rakyat session soon after his appointment and submit to a confidence vote,” he said.
Meanwhile, lawyer Syed Iskandar Syed Jaafar Al Mahdzar said it was the prerogative of the new prime minister to determine the make-up of his Cabinet once appointed.
Syed Iskandar said the King acted on the advice of the prime minister to appoint ministers and deputy ministers who could come from the ranks of MPs or persons appointed as senators.
He said a prime minister could form a new political alignment to strengthen his government before going to Parliament to test his legitimacy.
“The new prime minister will want to ensure his government is stable to take on the Covid-19 pandemic and nurse the ailing economy.
“He will not want to see MPs withdrawing support for him and destabilising his administration,” he said.
