Prof James Chin
KUCHING (Aug 15): Political analyst Prof James Chin believed that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong will select a new prime minister to form the next federal government if Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin steps down tomorrow.
The expert in Asian studies at the University of Tasmania in Australia opined that the Parliament cannot be recalled at this point of time, and it is the King’s prerogative to pick the next prime minister.
“If Muhyiddin steps down tomorrow formally, the Agong will definitely select somebody else to form a government. Parliament cannot be recalled, certainly.
“It would be somebody else given a chance to form a government. And whoever that is chosen to be the next prime minister will have to go through a vote of confidence when the Parliament reconvenes on Sept 1,” he told The Borneo Post.
According to Chin, the King has absolute discretion to who he selects and the candidate will be someone who is deemed to be able to command the confidence in the Dewan Rakyat.
He said the next prime minister to be picked by the King does not necessarily have to have the biggest majority in the Dewan Rakyat.
“Who the King picks is not who can show the biggest majority (of support) but it is who the King believes to have the command of confidence of the august House,” he added.
Earlier, Oriental Daily reported that Muhyiddin is expected to tender his resignation during an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong tomorrow.
The Borneo Post’s sister paper quoted an unnamed Cabinet member as saying that Muhyiddin is expected to tender his resignation, rather than holding on to the premiership until Parliament reconvenes next month.
It is said that Muhyiddin will be stepping down due to the loss of majority support from Dewan Rakyat for his initiatives involving Parliamentary reforms announced on Friday.
On Friday, Muhyiddin expressed his willingness to work with parties outside of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government following a scheduled vote of confidence in Parliament.
He said in a special address that after the confidence vote was done, there would be a more stable and inclusive government that recognised bipartisan input in managing the Covid-19 pandemic.
Later that day, many opposition MPs rejected Muhyiddin’s bipartisan cooperation offer, lamenting that the prime minister was only reaching out to them because his majority support in Parliament is in doubt.