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Coalition Musical Chairs: Constitutional or Not?

Feb 24, 2020

The toppling of the current Pakatan Harapan government drama is underway but is this all legal?  

We spoke to constitutional lawyer Surendra Ananth, who shared with us what can and cannot be done under the Federal Constitution. 

1. Can the Prime Minister unilaterally change his Cabinet, for example replace the Ministers and Deputy Ministers? 

Image: Unreserved

The PM can do so as long as he has the majority of support in the lower house of Parliament. Once the Yang di-Pertuan Agong appoints the individual with the majority of support as the PM, the PM can then pick the other ministers to form the Cabinet. Now, these ministers hold office at the pleasure of the King, who acts on the advice of the PM. The PM can get rid of the ministers at any point in time because ultimately it is his choice. So, while the PM still has the majority of support in Parliament, he can change his Cabinet, and he can replace his ministers at any point in time. 

2. What if a new coalition party is formed? Is there a need to dissolve Parliament? 

Image: Bernama

 There wouldn’t be a need to dissolve Parliament if the Prime Minister still has the majority of support in the Dewan Rakyat. This is simply because the Constitution does not recognise party politics or coalitions. The Constitution is only concerned about the individual who holds the majority of support. If he loses the support of the majority in the Dewan Rakyat, then he either resigns with his cabinet or he advises the King to dissolve Parliament, in which case the YDPA can refuse the advice.  

3. Then why are coalition politics so popular? 

As far as the Constitution is concerned, ‘coalition politics’ is not a legal concept. The Constitution is only concerned about the individual who holds majority of support. People use political parties and coalition parties for convenience because it is easy to determine the individual who has the majority support to be the PM. 

4. The Prime Minister can change the coalition and still be PM?  

The coalition can change at any point in time, it ultimately boils down to the PM, the person who holds the majority support. 

5. Is this democratic? 

Image: Selliyal.com

The Pakatan Harapan coalition was an important factor when Malaysia voted the new government in during GE14. If this were to change, especially by bringing in the earlier ruling party, it would be against the people’s wishes. While it is constitutionally permitted, it is not in accordance with more fundamental principles of democracy. 

Written by Roshini Ravindran