M. B. M. B. (Masalah Besar Mentri Besar)

It has been 16 days since the general election and the appointment of Mentris Besar (head of state) has not been fully resolved, with Terengganu still being in the limelight because the Sultan of Terengganu Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin is not in favour of the Prime Minister’s recommendation - Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh, and has selected Datuk Ahmad Said as the MB instead. (The state has been without a government since the elections on March 8 despite a big victory by the Barisan Nasional (BN)).

Before this, Perlis had also faced similar tussle. It ended with Bintong assemblyman Datuk Dr Md Isa Sabu being sworn in as Perlis Mentri Besar (the Sultan of Perlis’ choice) instead of Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, endorsed by the PM.

With boycott being called by some Umno members against the Terengganu palace’s decision, they just shot themselves in their feet. They had earlier blamed Lim Kit Siang for being disrespectful towards the monarch for his initial disagreement with the appointment made by the Regent of Perak Raja Nazrin and for calling a boycott against the swearing in of Perak PAS secretary and Pasir Panjang assemblyman Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin more than a week ago. His action was initially seen as disrespectful to the Sultan whom the Malays hold with high regard. The Umno members had called for Lim to be punished for even dare to suggest the boycott, despite his apology earlier. Now they should live up to their words.

The BN leaders, who initially pointed out that the initial mess in Perak was a sign of crack in the opposition coalition, now see their own party having split support between Idris and Kijal assemblyman Ahmad. The Sultan of Terengganu announced on Saturday that Ahmad would be the new Mentri Besar of Terengganu.

There were two issues involved in the recent appointments of MB and the tussles that had ensued in some states.

What do you do when the Sultan does not approve the PM’s choice of MB? Is the role of the monarch relevant in modern society?

In the case of Perlis, the Sultan was concern whether Shahidan actually represented the majority even though the PM had endorsed him, and had actually demanded for prove of support from both sides. Here, the Sultan had done a good thing in upholding the state constitution i. e. ensuring that the MB has the most support from the stateassembly and has a role in the check-and-balance process.

I think the monarch does play an important role in the democratic process. The question is, what if the position is abused and they are beyond immunity? This is something that constitutional law experts will have to look into.

We do not know yet why the Sultan in Terengganu objected to the PM’s choice. I am sure he has his reasons. It appears as though there is a constitutional crisis because the Sultan does not approve the MB with the most support from state assemblymen, which is require by the state constitution. I am sure many are waiting to hear the Sultan’s side of the story and hopefully, without being disrespectful, His Majesty would issue some kind of statement soon. This is important to uphold the parliamentary democratic system.

I must admit that the situation in Perlis was reasonably well-handled despite some initial fears. The Sultan was proactive and responsive and called both sides to state their cases. Shahidan too respected the Sultan's wishes and accepted his fate without calling for any boycott or causing any trouble despite his unhappiness.

Can a non-Malay be appointed as an MB or deputy MB?
This other question caught everyone off guard due to the political change resulting from the elections. In the past, no one had ever thought about appointing a non-Malay because Umno in the BN coalition had won the majority seats and a Malay was naturally appointed. However, when many non-Malays from DAP won all its state seats, outnumbering the other two parties in its coalition - Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s and PAS’ seats, the question then arose as to whether a non-Malay could be made MB.

Many have asked why Sitiawan state assembly man Ngeh Koo Ham could not be the MB when his party, DAP, had won the most seats in the opposition coalition (18 compared with PKR 7 and PAS 6). On hindsight, the coalition should have submitted one name (Ngeh’s- to reflect the wishes of voters) instead of three names from each party in the coalition. If the name is rejected, then a second choice could be made. I guess, with three names submitted, it was likely that Raja Nazrin did not consider DAP’s majority seats because he was looking at the coalition as a whole. It was also likely that the change was already too much for the Malay psyche, hence, his choice of a Malay MB was to cushion the impact. Nevertheless, I was really disappointed that PKR and PAS took the opportunity to hijack what Ngeh, a lawyer, could have, after all, in Perak, the Sultan can waive the Malay Muslim criteria. This issue of a possible non-Malay MB needs to be addressed some time in future.

For now we have to live with the appointment of the Perak MB - Perak PAS secretary and Pasir Panjang assemblyman Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin. A friend of mine - a lecturer from a local university said that Nizar’s portfolio is impressive and would not mind giving him a chance. Moreover, with many non-PAS state assemblymen, they can easily walk out on him if he tries to impose ultra Islamic values, he said.

For one, I am really glad that Nizar took a stand to not back down on the ratio of DAP-PKR-PAS (6:3:1) state executive councillors when some Malay NGOs protested against the ratio saying that they were worried about the lack of Malay representatives who could defend their rights. I think DAP should be given a chance to prove themselves in defending the rights of the poor in all races just as much as Nizar’s was given the chance to prove that he would not be biased against non-Malays.

While various groups may come out and voice their dissatisfaction about the lack of Malay representatives in the state assemblymen, one should not forget that the wishes of voters, which should most of all be respected otherwise they could easily lose confidence in the coalition. Interestingly, voters seem to ensure the balance of power play on religious issues with extremism kept in check.

On a related issue, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim also pointed out that MB and deputy MB are also required to help the Sultan carry out some Islamic religious duties and hence a Malay Muslim is preferred. On this note, can the modern democratic (and not theocratic) Malaysia appoint an Islamic adviser to do that instead of an MB? A lawyer friend had recently suggested that and said she read that the head of Islam is the Sultan and not the MB. So there should not be any issue about an MB having to be a Muslim.