There should be no ambiguity about the role of a constitutional monarch

Let's be clear about what a constitutional monarchy is all about.

DAP's Ngeh Koo Ham has waded into the Perlis constitutional crisis issue by stating that the Raja of Perlis should follow the Agong's example in handling the impasse over who the MB of Perlis should be.

It's been widely reported that the Agong had wanted Wan Azizah to be the prime minister but when Pakatan Harapan leaders made it clear that it was Dr M whom they wanted to be the PM, he agreed to it (this despite the fact that he doesn't particularly like Dr M).

Ngeh's views on the matter are largely in line with the viewpoints of many constitutional experts who say the royalty actually does not have discretion when it comes to appointing an MB or a PM.

Whether Ngeh should have made his comments now is a different question. When BN is involved in internecine warfare, it probably makes sense to let them fight it out without any interference. But then again, since this issue is in the news perhaps it is a good time to put the spotlight on it. The role of the constitutional monarchy has been blurry during the Pak Lah/Najib years. Now, it's time to clear it up.

Yes, it is the Sultan who appoints the MB and the Agong who appoints the PM. But in a constitutional monarchy this is supposed to be largely a ceremonial role. The Sultan and the Agong aren't supposed to be able to choose whoever they want. The person has to be the one who commands the support of the majority of the elected reps.

It's the royalty's role to determine who that person is. Perhaps he can do that by speaking to the reps in person or have them produce sworn documents that they support a certain person. Perhaps in this day and age, they might even be able to do this via e-mail or Whatsapp. But whatever the case, he can't simply choose whoever he likes.

During the Mahathir years (first time around), the royalty had been stung after two battle royales with Dr M where he curtailed their powers. So, they were not very activist after that. This all started to change when Pak Lah took over and really became more pronounced during Najib's time.

BN's general stance on the matter was that the royalty did indeed have discretion over such appointments. They took this stance because they believed in general, the royalty was more in favor of the government than the opposition. Thus there would be no clashes with BN or even if there were, they could be resolved amicably.

There were clashes with Pakatan though. It happened in Perak and later in Selangor, where Pakatan had wanted Wan Azizah to be the MB but the Sultan preferred Azmin Ali. In the end, Pakatan gave in, not willing to engage in a constitutional battle with the Sultan.

It was probably the pragmatic thing to do given that Pakatan was in the opposition at the federal level and had little power. Now that Pakatan is in power it's a different story. As mentioned earlier, they got the person they wanted for PM.

One of the things Pakatan should do as they proceed to reform many institutions in this country is to remove any ambiguity about royal discretion when it comes to appointing the MB and the PM. BN's intentional vagueness on this issue needs to become a thing of the past. Our democracy would be be better off with clarity than vagueness, especially on such an important issue as this.