Only Khalid can sack Khalid
Although it’s possible to replace him through a no-confidence vote, that would be risky for PKR
Free Malaysia Today
Recently, law professor Shad Saleem Faruqi wrote an interesting article in The Star under the headline “Providing check and balance”. Of particular interest in the context of current Selangor PKR politics was this part:
Dismissal of a PM: Article 43(5) mentions the power of the King, acting on the advice of the PM, to remove “Ministers other than the Prime Minister”. To some scholars, this implies that the PM, once appointed, is never removable by the King but only by the Dewan Rakyat on a vote of no-confidence under Article 43(4).
It is submitted that if a PM, who loses the confidence of the Dewan Rakyat and fails to secure the King’s consent to a dissolution, refuses to step down contrary to Article 43(4), then the King has no choice but to remove him from office. This is similar to the Nizar case in Perak.
Dissolution of Parliament: Under Article 40(2)(b), the King has undoubted power to refuse a premature dissolution of the Dewan Rakyat. Thus, if a PM loses his majority in the House and wishes to return to the people for a fresh mandate but the King is satisfied that an alternative government is viable, he may refuse dissolution.
What this means is Pakatan Rakyat does not have the power and authority to sack the Selangor Menteri Besar, Abdul Khalid Ibrahim. In fact, not even the Sultan can remove Khalid. His Highness only has the power to appoint the Menteri Besar, not the power to sack him.
The only way to oust Khalid would be for him to tender his resignation to the Sultan. In short, only Khalid can sack himself. His party, PKR, cannot do so.
Hence even if there is already an undated resignation letter and Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as party president sends it by messenger to His Highness, that is not good enough. The Sultan would expect an audience from the man he appointed as Menteri Besar.
