WHEN this article was written, the outcome of the 15th General Election was still unknown. Hence, it had the benefit of “the veil of ignorance” – the author cannot advocate certain positions only because he knows the election outcome.
To have a stable government, we must now get it right from the start, with the formation of the government.
The two utmost priorities should be preserving the important but limited Constitutional monarchy and ensuring a stable and accountable government. No political party/coalition should drag the palace into negotiations. If the palace is perceived to be picking the government rather than merely facilitating its formation, the government’s future failures would taint the monarchy.
The roles and hierarchy of political parties must be recognised even in the formation of a single-party majority government, what more in a coalition government in a hung parliament. The market must not panic over rumours and speculation, enabling self-fulfilling prophecies created by plotters and propagandists. Malaysia has gone through three government changes since 2018 peacefully, and the public is strong and organised to deter any seizure of power by undemocratic means.
Coalitions should avoid committing themselves too rigidly to promises that require a two-third majority to pass and that can easily be defeated, for example, giving 35% of parliamentary seats to Sabah and Sarawak. Such promises should be honoured by way of establishing a proper mechanism to study such matters prudently and forge a national consensus.
A confirmatory vote of confidence – or investiture vote – will protect both parliamentary democracy and Constitutional monarchy by confirming His Majesty’s judgement on who is “likely to command the confidence of the majority of [parliamentarians]” as stipulated in Article 43. This will kill any irresponsible plot of tabling more than one name for PM designate in the hope of dragging the palace into partisan politics.
Likewise, the Perikatan Nasional-led government collapsed because Muhyiddin was too arrogant to offer a political truce to the Opposition until the last days of his premiership. To ensure ambitious Opposition politicians are patient in waiting for the next election, shadow ministers should be given commensurate salaries, resources and access to government information to play a long game, as Maha discusses in another chapter, “Shadow Government”, in the book.
With all the short ends forcefully twist together to make a new rope, it will only be as strong as the weakest link.
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