MARCH 3 — Sir Ivor Jennings, writing on the British monarchy, made the following observations in his book The British Constitution:
“The Queen has one, and only one, function of primary importance. It is to appoint a Prime Minister.” (Cambridge University Press, 4th edition, 1961, at page 109)
That may be so in England, which has no written constitution, and where Parliament is supreme. It is definitely not so in Malaysia where there is a written constitution – the Federal Constitution – which is supreme.
A general view shows the iconic Perdana Putra building, which houses the Prime Minister’s Office, in Putrajaya on March 3, 2025. — Picture by Raymond Manuel
Article 40(2) of the Federal Constitution19 provides as follows:
The Yang di-Pertuan Agong may act in his discretion in the performance of the following functions, that it to say —
(a) the appointment of a prime minister;
(b) the withholding of consent to a request for the dissolution of Parliament;
(c) the requisition of a meeting of the Conference of Rulers concerned solely with the privileges, position, honours and dignities of their Royal Highnesses, and any action at such a meeting,
and in any other case mentioned in this Constitution.
BUT, in appointing the prime minister the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s (YDPA) discretion is not absolute.
Article 43(2)(a) requires the YDPA to appoint “a member of the House of Representatives who in his judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of that House”.
Even the former Lord President, Sultan of Perak and YDPA, His Royal Highness Al-Marhum Sultan Azlan Shah acknowledged this. (See The Role of Constitutional Rulers, first published in [1982] JMCL 103-118, and subsequently reprinted in Trindade & Lee, The Constitution of Malaysia, Further Perspectives and Developments, Essays in Honour of Tun Mohamed Suffian, Oxford University Press, 1986, pages 76-91).
His Royal Highness wrote: “Even in appointing the Prime Minister, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is not completely free.”
In other words, the YDPA’s discretion to appoint the prime minister is NOT absolute.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
