Five possible factors for King to reject the request to dissolve Parliament - Constitutional expert

SHAH ALAM - A constitutional expert views the advice given by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to dissolve the Parliament soon could be rejected by Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah based on five factors.

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) constitutional expert Professor Madya Dr Muhammad Fathi Yusof said the first factor was the fact that unlike before, the Prime Minister does not represent a strong party or coalition.

"Previously, the advice of the Prime Minister as an individual considered to represent the cabinet was not questioned, but now if Ismail Sabri advised the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to dissolve the Parliament it does not represent the entirety of the cabinet ministers.

"The Prime Minister's advice may be rejected for a reason of it not being made as a collective considering the Constitution stresses the concept of shared responsibility according to Article 43(3)," he said in a post on his Facebook.

The second factor, Fathi said, was just like how Yang di-Pertuan Agong rejected the advice of an emergency declaration based on public interest, the same could happen to reject the Prime Minister's advice due to public interest.

He explained public interest could refer to a few factors including the 15th General Election (GE15) not suited to be done during the monsoon season and the wastage if the election at the Parliament level was not done at the same time throughout the states.

"The third would be the action of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong who may not dissolve the Parliament immediately after being advised by the Prime Minister and could not be questioned by any court as written in Article 32," he said.

Fathi said the fourth factor would be the dissolution of Parliament that forced the public to vote during monsoon season and the election before the government perfected the budget.

"Along with the risks of waste due to elections not being held at the same time is an unpopular step which contradicts with the general public sentiment.

"Any actions by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong which is in line with the public’s wants would be hard to questioned even though it seems extraordinary.

"The fifth factor, recently there were some views inclined to see the Federal Constitution to be interpreted dynamically especially in relation to the concept of advice, taking into account of the discretionary powers of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

"Based on the five factors, I expect that it is not impossible for the dissolution of Parliament advised by the Prime Minister would be rejected if it truly happens," he explained.

He said the best time to have the elections was after the monsoon season and after the implementation of the budget for at least three to four months.

"In the situation of multiple parties controlling the state governments, the most accurate step is to create an understanding between parties relating to the time of the dissolution of Parliament the state assemblies," he said.