Friday 29 Mar 2024
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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on April 11, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said if rulers have the final say on who becomes the prime minister or menteris besar, then Malaysia would not be a democratic nation.

Dr Mahathir was commenting on an earlier statement by the Sultan of Johor who said “certain parties” should not meddle in the state’s affairs “because this sovereign state still has a Sultan”.

Dr Mahathir told a press conference at Parliament lobby yesterday that political parties have the power to determine the administration and leadership at the federal and state levels, including choosing the prime minister and menteris besar, Bernama reported.

The prime minister said this was because political parties get the mandate from the people to administer the nation or a state.

He stressed that if the power to choose the prime minister and menteris besar came under the Malay rulers, then Malaysia would no longer be a democracy.

“If the people have chosen the party that has the right to appoint a menteri besar, but this is denied, then we are not a democracy, we are an absolute monarchy.

“If this is the case, we can have a debate on it. Whether we accept the existing system, that is a constitutional monarchy, where the King acts on the advice of the prime minister at the federal level and at the state level, the menteri besar advises the ruler, or the system is abolished whereby we no longer need to hold elections,” he said.

Dr Mahathir added that the government viewed the matter very seriously.

“This is a very serious thing because when we formed the Federation of Malaya, we introduced a Constitution. In it we have stated that the Federation of Malaya and states in it practise the constitutional monarchy system and not absolute monarchy.

“If we were to ask if there are still provisions in the Johor Constitution that give absolute powers to the sultan, it becomes null and void because Johor also agreed to the system of government in our country,” he added.

Earlier, Dr Mahathir said after opening the Kuala Lumpur Islamic Finance Forum 2019 (KLIFF 2019) here that the government hopes to appoint an acting menteri besar in Johor as soon as possible but it will take some time.

“We have to decide on the candidate. There are several candidates ... it will take a little bit of time but very quickly we will find (the right person),” he said, Bernama reported.

On the appointment of the new menteri besar, Dr Mahathir said: “This is a political thing ... the role is for the party which won the election to determine who leads.”

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