The issue of constitutional monarchy has been in the news a lot lately because of various things that have happened in the aftermath of GE14.
The king had delayed Dr M's swearing in as PM and he also delayed the swearing in of Dr M/Pakatan's choice of Attorney General. Neither of these things should have happened, Dr M has said. And he's right. In a constitutional monarchy, the ruler has to act on the advice of the PM.
The Perlis constitutional issue which seems to have died down a bit (but not totally resolved), has also put the spotlight on the role of constitutional ruler. Over there, the ruler chose as MB someone whom the Perlis BN do not want. Actually, the ruler should go with whoever the ruling party wants.
Although many anti-BN people were glad to see the Perlis ruler have his way over the BN state reps there, this has set a bad precedence. And it's coming to haunt Pakatan in Selangor. In the previous election, Pakatan submitted only one name for its choice of MB but the Sultan rejected that and asked that more than one name to be submitted. He ended up choosing Azmin Ali although Pakatan's first choice was Wan Azizah.
At the time, PKR (and the other parties in Pakatan) felt it did not have the political capital to pursue this matter to the end (which would have meant taking it to the courts). Pakatan had many fires to put out and waging a legal battle with the sultan wasn't exactly something it wanted to contend with. So it gave in. This too had set a bad precedent.
It's been widely reported that all factions wanted Idris Ahmad to be the new MB. But the sultan asked for more than one name and Pakatan has complied. He didn't choose Idris.
PKR probably made an assessment and concluded that it was still not time to engage in any Battle Royale with the royalty. The rest just went along because it's PKR's prerogative when it comes to the Selangor MB.
One thing's for sure though: Dr M would not have stood for this if the MB issue were up to Bersatu to decide. He would have just submitted one name, just as he had done with the AG situation.
And if asked by reporters why he did that, Dr M would have replied that he wanted to "save" the royalty by ensuring that they do the right thing instead of taking actions that would go against their role as constitutional monarchs.
He knows that the sultan actually does not actually have discretion in choosing an MB. If he were to give the sultan more than one name, he would be making it possible for the sultan to overstep his role as a constitutional ruler. By giving only one name, he would be making sure the sultan fulfills his constitutional role to affirm the winning coalition's choice.
The king had delayed Dr M's swearing in as PM and he also delayed the swearing in of Dr M/Pakatan's choice of Attorney General. Neither of these things should have happened, Dr M has said. And he's right. In a constitutional monarchy, the ruler has to act on the advice of the PM.
The Perlis constitutional issue which seems to have died down a bit (but not totally resolved), has also put the spotlight on the role of constitutional ruler. Over there, the ruler chose as MB someone whom the Perlis BN do not want. Actually, the ruler should go with whoever the ruling party wants.
Although many anti-BN people were glad to see the Perlis ruler have his way over the BN state reps there, this has set a bad precedence. And it's coming to haunt Pakatan in Selangor. In the previous election, Pakatan submitted only one name for its choice of MB but the Sultan rejected that and asked that more than one name to be submitted. He ended up choosing Azmin Ali although Pakatan's first choice was Wan Azizah.
At the time, PKR (and the other parties in Pakatan) felt it did not have the political capital to pursue this matter to the end (which would have meant taking it to the courts). Pakatan had many fires to put out and waging a legal battle with the sultan wasn't exactly something it wanted to contend with. So it gave in. This too had set a bad precedent.
It's been widely reported that all factions wanted Idris Ahmad to be the new MB. But the sultan asked for more than one name and Pakatan has complied. He didn't choose Idris.
PKR probably made an assessment and concluded that it was still not time to engage in any Battle Royale with the royalty. The rest just went along because it's PKR's prerogative when it comes to the Selangor MB.
One thing's for sure though: Dr M would not have stood for this if the MB issue were up to Bersatu to decide. He would have just submitted one name, just as he had done with the AG situation.
And if asked by reporters why he did that, Dr M would have replied that he wanted to "save" the royalty by ensuring that they do the right thing instead of taking actions that would go against their role as constitutional monarchs.
He knows that the sultan actually does not actually have discretion in choosing an MB. If he were to give the sultan more than one name, he would be making it possible for the sultan to overstep his role as a constitutional ruler. By giving only one name, he would be making sure the sultan fulfills his constitutional role to affirm the winning coalition's choice.
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