Ex-Muhyiddin aide dismisses claim that SDs must be 'en bloc'

Marzuki Mohamad, the former principal private secretary to ex-premier Muhyiddin Yassin, has dismissed the notion that the 10 statutory declarations (SDs) of BN MPs the latter submitted to Istana Negara on Nov 21, 2022 were invalid.

He said that the claim that they were not valid because they were not submitted “en bloc” does not hold up.

In a post on Facebook, he questioned if “en bloc” meant all 26 BN MPs must produce SDs backing Muhyiddin, “and not merely 10, 15 or 20”.

Marzuki then referred to the Federal Constitution and noted that Article 43(2)(a) does not specify “en bloc” or “party”, and that what is mentioned is “the belief of the majority of Dewan Rakyat members”.

“This means that, in the process of appointing the prime minister, each member of the Dewan Rakyat can express confidence in any other member of the Dewan Rakyat as prime minister,” said Marzuki.

The former aide said the only provision in the Federal Constitution regarding the appointment of the prime minister is Article 43(2)(a), namely:

“The Yang di-Pertuan Agong must first appoint a prime minister to chair the Council of Ministers who is a member of the Dewan Rakyat who in his opinion is likely to gain the trust of the majority of the members of the Dewan Rakyat.

“There are no other provisions,” added Marzuki.

SDs submitted to police

Yesterday, Muhyiddin submitted a total of 115 SDs to the police concerning their investigation into his recent speech.

The SDs, which included his own, were purportedly from lawmakers who supported him to be the prime minister after the 15th general election which resulted in a political deadlock.

He also submitted a letter from the private secretary to the then Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah affirming that he had received the declarations on Nov 21, 2022.

Muhyiddin said he had attached to his document 51 SDs from PN, PAS (22), Gabungan Parti Sarawak (22), Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (six), Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Malaysia (one), as well as SDs from 10 BN MPs and two independent MPs.

The SDs from PN and PAS MPs were separate as PN had contested using the PAS logo in Terengganu and Kelantan.

Police are investigating an allegation that the former premier had insulted the then king Sultan Abdullah when he spoke about the appointment of the prime minister after the last national polls.

Impact on anti-hopping laws

Marzuki also questioned the “en bloc” impact of the anti-party-hopping laws, claiming that MPs are at liberty to choose regardless of the overall choice of their party or coalition.

“Does this law not allow a member of the Dewan Rakyat to support another MP as prime minister only en bloc?

“This can still be debated. The anti-party hopping law itself is exposed to various interpretations. To me it is a badly drafted law,” said Marzuki.

He cited paragraph 15.3 (page 65) of the Statement of the Special Select Committee Considering the Constitution (Amendment) Bill (No 3) 2022 and Regarding the Prohibition of Dewan Rakyat Members Changing Parties.

It stated that “the committee takes note of the view that based on paragraph (a) Clause (2) of Article 43 of the Federal Constitution, members of the Dewan Rakyat are seen as individuals who represent their respective parliamentary constituencies and do not follow a coalition party.”

“Therefore each MP can support any MP to become prime minister.

“In this regard, the committee is aware that there are views on the prime minister gaining the trust of the majority of MPs through a mechanism to be determined by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.”

Marzuki added that paragraph 15.3 is specifically applicable to Article 43(2)(a) of the Federal Constitution in determining who in the king’s opinion has the confidence of the majority to be appointed as prime minister.

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