Rulers vs PM

Unbelievable or rather believable, as it can only happen to Bolehland, Malaysia. I was pretty upset to read in the NST today under the heading “PM makes decisions on key judicial posts, says top judge”. Reading it literally makes a mockery to the Rulers as the Constitution do stipulate that the Rulers must be consulted in appointments of key judicial posts such as the Chief Judge of Malaya which is currently vacant. The Chief Judge had also being reported, which I hope that the report is not true that, and I quote from the report, "Consultation means you consult. It is not binding on you. The prime minister consults me and it is not binding on him. I cannot force the prime minister to accept what I want. It is not binding, the prime minister still decides."

Now who is the Chief Judge to compare with the Rulers and the Yang DiPertuan Agong (the Supreme Leader). Though the role of the Yang DiPertuan Agong is largely ceremonial in Malaysia's constitutional monarchy, the PM in my opinion should treat the advise as important and not a mere rubber stamp. Though legally under Article 40(1) of the Federal Constitution, the Yang DiPertuan Agong was bound by the Prime Minister's advice, yet at the same time His Highness must show respect to the views of the Conference of Rulers as the Rulers have the right to express their opinions and concerns.

I would prefer the views taken by Prof Shad Faruqi, Professor of Law at UITM who pointed out that even though there was no provision in the Federal Constitution to by-pass the King in making the appointment, the letter of appointment must come from the King. So legally, that would mean that the Rulers were a party to the appointment process of key government posts and as such must be consulted.

It is true that our conduct is stated in the constitution, there are many grey areas that aren’t stipulated and as such convention and customs play a pivotal role in seeing the harmony between procedures and laws. More so, why is it the framers of our Constitution stipulates the importance of consultation by the Rulers in the first place? Now having said that, there is a great possibility that the roles by the Rulers are deemed to be important so as to give some check and balance on the conducts of the Executive. As such the Rulers views must be consulted at all times.