WE, as a nation, waited with bated breath on a restless weekend for the expected announcement of an emergency.
At a time of uncertainty, when the nation needed assurance and leadership, our prime minister and his cabinet were nowhere to be seen. Their silence was deafening.
Instead, it was the Yang di-Pertuan Agong who listened to the concerns of his subjects and issued a message on Friday, telling the rakyat to stay calm.
And yesterday, the king listened once again, where, in an unprecedented move, he decided against heeding the advice of his prime minister to declare an emergency.
Being apolitical as His Majesty should, he gave credit to the current administration.
Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah said an emergency is not necessary at this time because the government’s handling of the pandemic is laudable.
His Majesty called on everyone to continue being united in the fight against Covid-19, and for politicians to stop bickering.
If Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was afraid of his Budget being defeated in Parliament, the king threw him a lifeline by remarking that it needs to be passed, as funds are urgently required for frontliners battling the coronavirus.
Whatever support or goodwill the government received from the rakyat in the early days of the nationwide lockdown has diminished in the third wave of the virus following the Sabah election exactly a month ago.
And now, it is probably completely lost after the administration proposed a nationwide emergency that, in the wisdom of the Agong and his brother rulers, is entirely unnecessary.
In a first in the nation’s history, a prime minister’s advice went unheeded by the monarch, and in the days to come, constitutional experts will debate on whether the king can indeed decide not to follow his prime minister’s recommendations.
There will also be a discussion on whether this sets a precedent for the monarchy to interfere in the executive and legislature.
However, in a world where there is a democratically elected government in power, this question will not even arise.
In fact, a statement from the Conference of Rulers emphasised the need for checks and balances, and the role of the royal institution in a democracy. More pressingly, the statement said it is the rulers’ responsibility to ensure that there is no attempt at abuse of power by the government in its bid to proclaim an emergency.
And, it seems that Muhyiddin has listened to what the Agong is saying – or not saying.
That he is contemplating doing the right thing by resigning is him seeing the writing on the wall. Those persuading him to stay put have vested interests – including the people who were chief in influencing him to call for an emergency in the first place.
Certainly, that Muhyiddin’s government is an unelected one is too obvious to ignore, even for Muhyiddin himself. That he may have lost his majority in Parliament, and his Perikatan Nasional (PN) partners, such as Umno, seem to be against an emergency probably convinced the rulers that if one is to be declared, this is not the government to do so.
When the “Sheraton Move” was initiated in late February, Muhyiddin may have had the numbers, and the Agong would be correct to appoint the person who likely commands the support of the House to form a new government. At that time, it was Muhyiddin.
However, just as how Pakatan Harapan lost its majority in the Dewan Rakyat after 22 months, PN, too, is facing a crisis of lost partners and confidence.
It would be dangerous to allow an administration that has lost the confidence of its partners and the people to have carte blanche power without the checks and balances of the legislature – which was essentially what this government was trying to do.
But if we have learnt anything from this episode, it is that our constitutional monarchy works because we, the people, make it work.
And this Agong, who is familiar with his subjects and understands our hopes and fears, is the king we needed at a time when our way of life was about to be drastically altered, perhaps for a long, long time.
And for that, we thank the king.
Daulat Tuanku! – The Vibes, October 26, 2020
Terence Fernandez is managing editor of The Vibes
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