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Mahiaddin Yassin seemingly admitted that he no longer had the support of the majority of the Members of Parliament (MPs) in a televised address yesterday. However, he insisted that he would not resign on the ground that there are no other MPs who managed to command the confidence of the majority as well. According to Article 43(4) of the Federal Constitution, once a Prime Minister ceases to command the majority support of the MPs, the Prime Minister should either honourably step down, or request the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (YDPA) to dissolve the Parliament so that a general election can be held. This essentially means that if the YDPA refuses to dissolve Parliament, Mahiddin will only be left with the option of resigning from his post.

In the 2009 Perak constitutional crisis, the Federal Court ruled that the Sultan may determine whether a state assemblyman has the support of the majority outside the State Legislative Assembly. Passing a motion of vote of confidence or vote of no confidence in the legislative assemblies or the Parliament is not the only method to determine whether a Menteri Besar or Prime Minister commands the majority support. Hence, when Mahiaddin admitted that he had ceased to command the support of the majority in the Parliament, he should have stepped down immediately rather than waiting until the reconvening of the Parliament in September.

For the purpose of securing his political powers, Mahiaddin does not hesitate to propose bipartisan cooperation by extending an olive branch to Pakatan Harapan. In the event he manages to obtain support from the opposition, he has promised, among other things, to (i) set a two-term limit for the Prime Minister post; (ii) enact anti-party hopping laws, (iii) implement Undi18 and several other bills. The issue is, such bills, as they will involve a constitutional amendment, need at least two-thirds support of both Houses. Additionally, there is also no guarantee that Mahiaddin will not revoke these promises.

Without regarding the possibility of Mahiaddin not keeping his promise, it is worthy to note that the allocation for Opposition MPs has dropped significantly since the formation of the Perikatan Nasional government. The Parliament offices in many constituencies are faced with financial issues. As a consequence, this limits the assistance which may be offered to the people during the pandemic. Throughout this whole year, Mahiaddin has turned a blind eye to those who are living in Opposition constituencies; he only turned to them in times of desperation just for the sake of trying to maintain his power.

We demand Mahiaddin and his Cabinet to step down immediately. The bills and policies mentioned in his conditional offer ultimately concerned the rights of the people ⏤ rights which people are entitled to, and should have never been used as a bargaining chip to secure his place in Malaysia's political scenery.


Campus Democracy, Student Autonomy

UMANY

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