On Thursday, Malaysian Attorney-General Idrus Harun said Prime Minister (PM) Muhyiddin Yassin and his ministers could continue to exercise their federal executive powers because there is no clear evidence to prove that his administration no longer enjoys the support of a majority of lawmakers.
Channel News Asia reported the country’s legal adviser as saying: “As it stands now, the government has no clear facts proving that the prime minister no longer garners the support of the majority of the members of the House of Representatives. Based on Article 43(2)(a) of the Federal Constitution, the determination of whether someone has the confidence of the majority of the Lower House members must be determined by the members of the Lower House themselves, and not through any announcement by a political party or any political leader.” He added, “Therefore, in legal terms, YAB Prime Minister and the existing Cabinet ministers can still exercise federal executive powers.”
The statement was released hours after the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the biggest party in the ruling Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition, announced that it was withdrawing its support for the embattled PM and calling on him to resign. UMNO President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said, “UMNO urges Muhyiddin Yasin to withdraw honourably to enable a new prime minister to be appointed for a limited period.” Moreover, leaders of other political parties within the ruling coalition supported Zahid’s decision and said in a statement that “Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin must resign with honour because he has lost his support and legitimacy as prime minister.”
The Straits Times quoted Zahid saying that the Muhyiddin administration “clearly failed in fulfilling the people’s aspirations.” “The failure of this government is very apparent. It has misused the state of emergency proclamation, which is seen as nothing but a political ploy, and has only brought detriment to the people and its economy,” he remarked.
Hours before UMNO’s announcement, PM Muhyiddin promoted two UMNO senior leaders—Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob as deputy prime minister and Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein as senior minister for foreign affairs. A statement released by the PM’s Office on Wednesday said that the new appointments were expected to strengthen the ability of PN to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and increase the unity among the political parties that form the government.
The appointments are significant because UMNO MP Nazri Abdul Aziz previously revealed that almost 25 out of 38 UMNO MPs opposed Zahid’s decision to withdraw support to Muhyiddin and continue backing the PM. However, due to Muhyiddin’s thin majority in the parliament, he could easily lose support if even a handful of UMNO MPs withdraw their consent.
Ever since coming to power, Muhyiddin’s government has been in a challenging position because of the involvement of multiple political parties in the PN. Amid increasing pressure to allow the parliament to convene this month after a prolonged state of emergency, the PM announced earlier this week that the parliament would hold a special sitting for five days, from July 26 to 29, and a final session on August 2. In addition, the Senate will also convene for three days from August 3 to August 5.
As of now, it appears that the shaky Muhyiddin administration has survived another test of legitimacy.