MARCH 6 — I refer to The Guardian op-ed of March 3, 2020 entitled “The Guardian view on a royal coup: a king overturns a historic election” which portrays recent political developments in Malaysia in a negative, biased and unconstructive manner.
Among others, the insinuation that His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) “has overturned a democratic election result” is especially malicious.
Malaysia is an independent and sovereign nation which has and continues to be governed by its Federal Constitution of 1957 which among others, clearly outlines the role of His Majesty the King in appointing the Prime Minister.
Against the backdrop of the collapse of Pakatan Harapan government, His Majesty had taken extra care when discharging his constitutional role by taking the unprecedented step of personally interviewing all 222 Members of Parliament with a view to determining a candidate “who in his judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of that House”.
Upon the conclusion of that exercise undertaken strictly and transparently in accordance with the constitutionally defined mandate, His Majesty determined that majority support belonged to Mr. Muhyiddin Md. Yasin who was then subsequently appointed as Malaysia’s eighth Prime Minister.
Thus, the implicit assertion that Malaysian democracy was apparently threatened by the King constitutes an ill-informed and gross misrepresentation of His Majesty’s role in events surrounding the recent political transition.
The article also appears to cast aspersions on Prime Minister Muhyiddin’s character by painting him as an opportunist who manoeuvred to secure power while others were busy fighting amongst themselves and that he is only a puppet of others.
This narrative conveniently ignores the fact that Muhyiddin’s appointment as Prime Minister was based on the solid support of the majority of MPs, and the fact that during a nationwide address on 2 March 2020, Muhyiddin asserted that members of his Cabinet will be clean, of high integrity and calibre.
The article goes further to stoke religious sentiment and resentment, especially by characterising PAS which is now a member of the new government, as “religious demagogues”. It may surprise many that PAS had previously shared power at the federal level (1974-1978), and that it has continuously governed the state of Kelantan since 1990.
In the time which PAS has held power in Kelantan, it has demonstrated that an Islamically inclined party could govern well. Under PAS leadership, not a single non-Muslim house of worship was forcibly or illegally demolished, and neither has there been any instance of forced conversion to Islam in Kelantan. Seen in this context, allegations that PAS will bring a ‘Taliban agenda’ at the federal level is merely irresponsible scaremongering by its political enemies, such as the DAP.
Seasoned Malaysia watchers will have noted that the Pakatan Harapan government had in fact came to power on the basis of a very thin majority, and that it imploded and collapsed due to its own internal conflicts.
Furthermore, the so-called “people’s mandate” which brought Pakatan Harapan to power in May 2018 also ended with the collapse of that government. These are all facts which neither Pakatan leaders nor their supporters are willing to admit.
Results of Malaysia’s 14th General Elections in 2018 clearly show that when combined, the total votes for both the Barisan Nasional (the ruling coalition prior to 2018) and PAS (Islamic Party of Malaysia) – both parties which are now part of the ruling coalition under Prime Minister Muhyiddin –exceeded the number of votes for Pakatan Harapan.
Many observers in Malaysia and beyond have come to realise that the constitution has safeguarded the monarch’s role and that the monarchy is an institution which is not merely symbolic in nature, but that it can also be relied on as an arbiter of last resort, to provide an effective check-and-balance against excess.
In characterising the recent political transition, the author(s) chose to ignore the fact that democratic norms, institutions the rule of law and the exercise of fundamental freedoms and rights continued to be respected, as well as the fact that the transition took place in a calm and peaceful manner. These are all indicative of the fact that democracy continues to develop and mature in Malaysia.
Ultimately, the article’s author(s) failed to grasp that recent political developments in Malaysia underscores the integrity, resilience and effective functioning of its democratic institutions, including the crucial role of the monarch in discharging his constitutionally mandated responsibility in an effective, non-partisan and judicious manner.
*Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican is Member of Parliament for Kepala Batas.
**This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
