Nazri: Choice of PM is sole discretion of the King

Nazri said Malaysia goes by the constitutional monarchy and democratic parliamentary system modeled after the Westminster in the United Kingdom.

"Our Prime Minister is a member of the Dewan Rakyat who commands authority over the majority members of the House, and in Malaysia’s case, the leader of Parti Perikatan now known as Barisan Nasional has been administering the country since independence," he said.

"We have a different system from the Americans, which allows citizens to vote for their president directly every four years. Usually presidents of nations are elected directly but this is not the same case for a Prime Minister.

In the present system in Malaysia, voters know that their ballot indirectly determines the Prime Minister coming into power.

This system is one encompassed in the Federal Constitution and not based on decision of the Executive arm or the government.

“Therefore any attempts to change this system have to go through Parliament.”

Following that an argument ensued when Gobind asked if there were mechanisms to ensure that the candidates for PM are free of any doubts or scandals.

Raising allegations against Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s alleged link to the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder, Gobind said he had not been investigated despite being a key witness in the case.

“This was acknowledged by investigating officer Supt Gan Tack Guan during the sedition trial of blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin, and Gan is incidentally also the investigating officer for the Altantuya murder,” Gobind said as BN backbenchers protested noisily.

Nazri replied: “In Malaysia, a person is innocent until proven guilty in court. So in this case what is raised is merely speculation.”

“Speculation, rumours and allegations cannot influence our decision which has to be based on strong evidence against an individual,” he said.

"According to Article 40(2) of the Federal Constitution the King can accept or reject the candidate for Prime Minister. Matters of appointment of the Prime Minister depends on the King's decision and if the King decides to accept Pekan MP (Najib) as Prime Minister then it is not our responsibility to dispute it," he added.

Mohd Nor Othman (BN-Hulu Terengganu) then said Gobind’s question on whether the PM can be elected directly by the people was an infringement of the Constitution and denies the King’s right to appoint the PM.

Nazri replied: “This is their problem, they are fighting for ketuanan rakyat (people’s power) where the rakyat is to replace the monarchy."

"When we talk about Malay supremacy we are not saying that the Malays are more powerful than the Chinese or Indians- we are acknowledging that the Kings and Sultans are heads of their respective states," he said.

Raising a point of Order, Gobind then accused Nazri of insinuating that the Pakatan Rakyat wants to overthrow the Kings and Sultans and accused him of evoking uneasiness amongst the races, raising the fury of back benchers again.