Acceptance and Compromise In Malaysia’s Democracy?

‘Civil Liberties’ and ‘Democracy’ may sound like words which have been used a dime a dozen, but beneath the surface, these two words have etched in them non-negotiable principles of which, lay the foundation of any society which prides itself on being run by a system of equality, interestingly guaranteed even by Malaysia’s Federal Constitution, the ‘bread & butter’ of our identity. Because the Constitution is more than just law, it has embossed in it a nation’s identity, one that usually cannot be altered.

And one of those principles relates to a system run by Malaysians, through a system of Constitutional Monarchy.

But has this identity many of us pride ourselves on faded without much notice, (much like how Khalid Ibrahim should have, but refused to leave?)

Now, this piece isn’t so much of a critique on His Royal Highness (HRH) the Sultan of Selangor in appointing Bukit Antarabangsa’s State Assemblyperson, YB Azmin Ali, but more to try to ascertain on the procedural impropriety in not appointing a member of Selangor’s Assembly, who had already displayed that they had support to be the new Menteri Besar (Chief Minister).

In Selangor’s Constitution, the discretionary powers of a Head of State lie in two distinct matters; in appointing a Menteri Besar and choosing whether or not to dissolve a state assembly, similar to the powers available to the Agong at a national level.

But there are still limits to which a Head of State can exercise these discretionary powers, more so relating to the appointment of a Head of Government.

Article 53 (2) (a) allows for this, where HRH may appoint a Menteri Besar who in His judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of the Assembly.

There though, lies the answer to this conundrum which we found ourselves in. When Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail declared that she had been endorsed by 30 State Assemblypersons on August 15th, that discretionary power no longer was available to HRH, simply because his work had already been done for him, by the said assemblypersons.

And going by the Federal Court decision in Nizar vs Zambry, this was perfectly legitimate, and all HRH had to do was to duly appoint Datuk Seri Wan Azizah as the 15th Menteri Besar of the State of Selangor.

Never mind the court decision though. Even if there wasn’t a Federal Court decision already in place, HRH would be directed, not by us, Khalid Ibrahim or even the 30 Selangor reps, but by the State’s Constitution which has expressly stated the course of action which must be adopted, as soon as a Menteri Besar has lost confidence, and another has proven to have majority support in the State Assembly.

This though, never took place, but why so? Could it be said that HRH was misled by his advisors or the state legal advisor? More importantly however, what does this now mean for this democracy through a system of constitutional monarchy we claim to have in Malaysia?

The State’s Constitution does not provide a Head of State with authority to be actively involved in politics opted by, and governed for, the people of Selangor.

Would it be too much to request, with respect, that HRH through his advisors, put forth the reasons which resulted in Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail not being installed as the Chief Minister? The explanation issued yesterday stating that the reason it occurred was due to “strife within PKR and inability within PR to choose a candidate” smacks of disbelief, as this ‘choosing’ was already done on August 15th.

I will reiterate that the identity of a person appointed does not matter that much, but what is vital is how they came about to be chosen. There have been some utterances that “It doesn’t matter if Wan Azizah wasn’t appointed, it’s still a PKR MB right?” But it matters, without a shadow of doubt.

We cannot simply accept a ‘compromise’ solution when we realise that it indeed is not right, bordering on being unjust. The state Constitution has clearly been overlooked in this instance.

Malaysia’s Constitutional Monarchy has taken a back seat and I do hope for the life of me that it isn’t a signal of what might be in the pipeline, where a particular Constitution can be overridden, when a clear error has occurred.

If we opt however to lay silent with principles which are non-negotiable, then we Malaysians should accept the idea that we have a Constitutional Monarch system with democracy which is qualified. I shudder at that thought.