Sivarasa Rasiah said that without sufficient proof that Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has lost the majority support in Parliament, the ‘advice’ of the prime minister works more as instruction. — Picture by Miera Zulyana
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KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 — Sungai Buloh MP Sivarasa Rasiah today suggested that Umno could make the difference that would allow the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to decline the “advice” of Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin regarding the ongoing nationwide state of Emergency.
Sivarasa said that without sufficient proof that Muhyiddin has lost the majority support in Parliament, the “advice” of the prime minister works more as instruction.
“We know, in general, several Umno politicians have announced they have withdrawn their support for the prime minister, and the number of MPs supporting PN looks less than the majority,” the lawyer and PKR lawmaker said during an online press conference titled “Hak Rakyat dan Darurat” — which translates to “Citizens’ rights and the Emergency”.
“However, this has not reached the gates of the Agong’s palace, it is not official… from a law standpoint, the Agong would need a burden of proof that is higher” to decline Muhyiddin’s advice on the Emergency, Sivarasa said, citing Article 40 of the Federal Constitution.
He said to this end, the Umno president and all Umno MPs could meet with the Agong at his palace to declare they have withdrawn support for the PN government.
He also said that the Opposition MPs could similarly show proof they majority support in Parliament, or the Agong could himself seek letters of declaration or face-to-face meetings with MPs.
Sivarasa said if it was shown that Muhyiddin had lost majority support, the Agong would then need to give the time to MPs to choose a new prime minister, or allow Muhyiddin to show he has managed to recapture the support he needs to maintain his position.
“But for now, this hasn’t happened, and my opinion as a lawyer is that the Agong cannot refuse the advice of the prime minister when he wants to call for an Emergency,” said Sivarasa.
When asked what is the best current political method to end the Emergency, Sivarasa said it would be a challenge to do it without Parliament being reconvened.
Shah Alam MP Khalid Abdul Samad from Parti Amanah Negara who was also in the same online news conference suggested that Umno MPs do this to take responsibility for the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government.
“This I want to direct to Najib, Zahid and the like,” said Khalid, referring to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
“As stated earlier [by Sivarasa], one of the options that can be done is that Umno MPs declare officially, such as by statutory decorations, that we do not support the PN government. And naturally the current government will fall.
“But because Umno also wants to take care of its priorities. So don’t try to wash your hands,” he said.
Earlier this week, Zahid had said it was unfair to blame Umno or link it to the failures of the PN government, as Umno was not involved in determining national policies.
Parliament has not been convened since December last year, after Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah declared a nationwide state of Emergency — on the advice of Muhyiddin — in January, which resulted in the suspension of Parliament until the Emergency ends on August 1.