COMMENT | Backdoor gov’t ‘illegitimate’ until approved by Parliament

COMMENT | While the king has to use his judgement to choose the prime minister when there is a dispute over who commands the majority in Parliament, common sense and prudence dictate that this decision is ratified by Parliament which should sit normally after that.

Using procedures to deliberately delay Parliament and constrict its powers through nonsense restrictions to frustrate and postpone the inevitable no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is against all principles of a democratic government and may well be open to challenge in the courts.

Thus, the move by Muhyiddin to restrict Parliament to only the king’s address and not to conduct any other business via an amendment to the agenda sent to the speaker - he appears to have the legal power to do this, although some dispute that - is an utter mockery of parliamentary process and an abuse of his powers.

It prevents either the legitimisation of his government or the demonstration of his lack of majority. That must lead one to suspect that Muhyiddin may not have the majority especially given how whimsical some MPs become during such times when they can be swayed by promises of power, patronage and money.

In other words, the blunt truth may be that this is an illegitimate government which is prolonging its existence by delaying a proper parliamentary sitting which will decide once and for all whether Muhyiddin commands the majority in Parliament.

By law and by convention, Muhyiddin needs to tender his resignation if...