COMMENT | Parliament fiddles even as Covid-19 ravages the rakyat

COMMENT | Unprecedented events unfolded in quick succession the past five days that struck at the core of Malaysia’s nationhood.

The Parliament debacle and subjugation, utter disregard for the constitution, the cabinet misleading the instructions of the king, and the king admonishing with disgust the cabinet he appointed to exercise his powers. The nationhood crisis has taken centre stage over the worst pandemic ever at its height.

Much will be written on this developing crisis. I am not a professional writer, but one trained in exact sciences. I take issues at face value, interpret them literally, and guided by logic analyse situations and offer possible scenarios. Rather than an essay, I present this opinion in the form of talking points so that the message filters through. I stand corrected if there are factual errors.

Shall king act on advice?

Many have quoted extensively Article 40 (1) of the Constitution, which is the key point of contention. However, the second part of the Article states “…; but shall be entitled, at his request, to any information concerning the government of the Federation, which is available to the cabinet”.

This is exactly what the king is doing, to seek further information from the cabinet. As the king said, he accepts the advice to revoke the emergency ordinances (EO), but he needs further information because it raises many valid questions, especially on backdating. To me, it seems the king is perfectly following the constitution. But surprisingly, I had not seen this aspect ventilated by experts from both sides.

The cabinet seems to imply in exercising this power, the king has to...