DEC 8 — A hung Parliament or legislative assembly had been written by our very own constitutional expert, Emeritus Professor Shad Saleem Faruqi, almost ten years ago in 2013, when reflecting on a deadlocked state legislative assembly (SLA).

The question asked was what consequences flow if there was a "hung Assembly” with an equally divided vote between two major factions?

In his usual aplomb, the eminent scholar wrote:

"Appointment of the Mentri Besar (MB) is an undoubted royal discretion. However, being a constitutional monarch, the Ruler is required to observe constitutional and conventional limits.

"The MB must be from the Assembly. He must be a person who in the opinion of the Ruler is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of the Assembly. In the Malay States, the MB must be a Muslim and a Malay unless the Sultan allows an exception.

"Despite his discretion, the Sultan must, in a hung Assembly, take note of the conventional "incumbency rule”.

"The incumbent MB should be given the first bite of the cherry and be allowed to continue to govern, to enact a budget and critical laws.”

What if the incumbent fails?

The Sultan could try to forge together a unity government headed by an MB of his choice from either faction and an equal number of Exco members from both sides. (Read "Larger than the law”)

Shad concluded his thoughts of wisdom as follows:

"The lessons of history are always important. Life is always larger than the law and no statute can anticipate the permutations of political life.”

How true. No statute anticipated the permutations of political life that resulted in the so-called newly-minted unity government.

I am inclined to call it a minority government because that is what it is based on what a minority government is. One may refer to minority governments in many countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

Call it as you like, but is it a fraud?

I can do no better than to quote what Shad said days after the 15th general election (GE15) produced a hung Parliament:

"A minority government should not be seen as an aberration but be welcomed as it can create a healthy check-and-balance of a country’s administration.

"It is common and many countries have been successfully administered under minority governments.”

"A government with a razor-thin majority or without a majority is not a bad thing as it creates a greater check-and-balance mechanism. This is not the failure or defeat of democracy, and the current situation facing the country is also not as dire as it is believed to be,” he added.

Shad said a coalition with a large majority was unhealthy as seen in the past when scandals went unchecked. He therefore welcomed the post GE15 situation which "is a good sign that Malaysia is returning to a true democracy, now that the majority is no longer monopolised by a single coalition.”

The current coalition government is not even an aberration, let alone a fraud over the electorates.

*This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.