GIVEN the current state of political stalemate with rigorous horse trading underway barely 24 hours after the outcome of the 15th General Election (GE15) is made known, the wisdom of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong seems to be the last bastion of hope for Malaysia to get back on its feet lest the nation stares at prospect of a hung Parliament for an indefinite period.
After all, His Majesty the King has requested the political parties that won the most seats to present their numbers by today (Nov 21) at 2pm. He also asked the coalitions to propose their candidates for the Prime Minister (PM) post.
While Pakatan Harapan (PH) has clinched the highest number of seats on Saturday’s (Nov 19) national poll with 82, this falls short of the simple majority figure of 112 needed to form a government on its own.
That Perikatan Nasional (PN) also sits in the pole position with 73 seats has prompted Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) to reveal yesterday (Nov 20) that PN, Barisan Nasional (BN), Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) and itself have agreed to come together as a bloc and form a coalition government.
While PH chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is very much wiser this time around by avoiding his previous blunders with numbers – but to instead negotiate with his ‘prospects’ diligently behind the scene – political observers generally believe that PH should be accorded right of first refusal to form the next government.
“It being the single solid block with the biggest number of seats, the opportunity to form the next government deservedly belongs to them. This convention and democratic practice must be honoured and respected in the interest of parliamentary democracy,” opined Aliran Kesedaran Negara’s former president (1994-2011) P. Ramakrishnan.
“Malaysians are confident that this fact will not go unnoticed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (YDPA). Malaysians are confident that the Agong will adhere to this practice and will give Anwar the first opportunity to try to form the next government.”
Moreover, Anwar’s quest to be the 10th Malaysian PM has also received further backing from a group of four former Bar Council presidents, lawyers and activists.
By virtue of being the coalition with the highest number of parliamentary seats, the group which comprises ex-Bar presidents Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasen, Datuk Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari, Christopher Leong and Ragunath Kesavan also concurred that it should be PH’s right to be invited by the YDPA to form the government.
Political critic and veteran journalist Kee Thuan Chye pointed to BN chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s statement that the coalition denied making any negotiation with GPS nor PN to form a government.
“This is interesting. Zahid and his group apparently favour going with PH while some other UMNO MPs prefer PN. If they cannot resolve this, it will cause a political stalemate. Neither PN nor PH would be able to form a government,” he told FocusM.
“This is what I propose. The YDPA should call Anwar and offer him the opportunity to form a government since his coalition holds the highest number of seats in Parliament. Then it would be incumbent on Anwar to approach other parties to come in with PH.”
“If he fails, he loses his chance. But I believe that if he gets the mandate from the YDPA, he will have more clout to attract other partners to join in. He will be seen to have the endorsement. That is very important,” added author of Ask for No Bullshit, Get Some More! (sequel to No More Bullshit, Please, We’re All Malaysians). – Nov 21, 2021
