Why Anwar may not become the next Prime Minister
So, it is not up to Mahathir whether Anwar becomes Prime Minister even if Mahathir says 100 times that Anwar is his successor. Anwar needs to impress His Majesty the Agong that he has 112 or more Members of the House who want him to become Prime Minister. And currently Anwar DOES NOT have 112 Members of the House who support him to become Prime Minister.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Most Malaysians believe that as long as your party has won the majority of the 222 seats in Parliament (meaning at least 112 seats or more) then His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong has no choice but to appoint you the Prime Minister. If that is true then Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad would not have become the Prime Minister in May this year since PPBM or Pribumi won just 13 seats.
The reason why His Majesty the Agong appointed Mahathir the Prime Minister is not because his party won the largest number of seats in Parliament (meaning 112 seats or more) but because Mahathir commanded the confidence of 113 members of the House (one extra from the required 112) against the backdrop of 52% of the popular votes.
His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong appoints the Prime Minister who in His Majesty’s judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the Members of the House
In fact, no party won 112 seats or more. The largest, Umno, won just 54 seats followed by PKR (47) and DAP (42). Even PAS at 18 Parliament seats did better than PPBM.
So, forget about how many seats your party may have in Parliament. No party is ever going to have 112 seats or more anyway. At best, all out, maybe your party can win 90-100 seats. Hence if it is seats that is going to determine who is going to be Malaysia’s Prime Minister then Malaysia will never have a Prime Minister.
The question should be: who commands the confidence of the majority of the Members of the House? Mahathir or Anwar Ibrahim (or Azmin Ali, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Muhyiddin Yassin, Hishammuddin Hussein, Najib Tun Razak, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Mohamad Hasan, Mukhriz Mahathir, etc.)?
And if this person who “in His Majesty the Agong’s judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the Members of the House”, then that is the person who His Majesty appoints as the Prime Minister.
Mahathir cannot make Anwar the Prime Minister if Anwar cannot get 112 MPs or more to support him
So, it is not up to Mahathir whether Anwar becomes Prime Minister even if Mahathir says 100 times that Anwar is his successor. Anwar needs to impress His Majesty the Agong that he has 112 or more Members of the House who want him to become Prime Minister. And currently Anwar DOES NOT have 112 Members of the House who support him to become Prime Minister.
If, say, only 80 Members of the House want Anwar to become Prime Minister while 142 do not, then His Majesty the Agong cannot appoint Anwar the Prime Minister since “in His Majesty the Agong’s judgment Anwar is NOT likely to command the confidence of the majority of the Members of the House” — even if Mahathir says 100 times that Anwar is his successor.
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FEDERAL CONSTITUTION
Article 40(2) The Yang di-Pertuan Agong may act in his discretion in the performance of the following functions, that is to say:
(a) the appointment of a Prime Minister;
(b) the withholding of consent to a request for the dissolution of Parliament;
(c) the requisition of a meeting of the Conference of Rulers concerned solely with the privileges, position, honours and dignities of Their Royal Highnesses, and any action at such a meeting, and in any other case mentioned in this Constitution.
Article 43(2) The Cabinet shall be appointed as follows, that is to say:
(a) the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall first appoint as Perdana Menteri (Prime Minister) to preside over the Cabinet a Member of the House of Representatives who in his judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the Members of that House.
http://www.agc.gov.my/agcportal/uploads/files/Publications/FC/Federal%20Consti%20(BI%20text).pdf (Fifteenth reprint 1st November 2010)
