Sultan must abide by the majority, says expert

Constitutional expert Abdul Aziz Bari has reiterated that the sole qualification for a menteri besar is whether he or she has majority support in the state assembly.

"Even personal preference of the ruler has no place," he added in a statement.

“The only qualification for an MB - or PM or CM - is the majority. Gender, academic qualification, and even personal preference of the ruler, has no place,” he elaborated.

Abdul Aziz said that even the condition that the MB must be “Malay and Islam” can be “set aside” in favour of a majority.

Abdul Aziz was responding to a statement from the Selangor palace, which stated that the sultan might even choose a state rep not on the lists of potential candidates submitted by Pakatan Rakyat parties.

The expert questioned why "law and practice" are "different" when it comes to Umno and Pakatan.

In a statement, Abdul Aziz said the same palace had, in 1997, accepted Abu Hassan Omar as the MB for the state even though he was a federal minister and a by-election was called specifically for Abu Hassan to be made as MB.

Abdul Aziz Bari

"The law is the same and should be applied without discrimination," he said.

"The way the palace dealt with the matter so far has made the law uncertain and this is not good," he added.

He also reminded that gender discrimination has been “outlawed” under Article 8 of the federal constitution.

"The notion of discretion must be understood in the parliamentary democracy framework," he added.

"We are dealing with a monarchy within a parliamentary democracy framework," he said.

Mkini