AG disregards the confidence convention – William Leong Jee Keen

[superadmin]

THE attorney-general (AG) is wrong to have disregarded the confidence convention in saying a vote of confidence will undermine the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s appointment of Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob as prime minister.

A written constitution, no matter how detailed, is supplemented by constitutional conventions. The Malaysian federal constitution being modelled on the United Kingdom’s unwritten constitution is inlaid with constitutional conventions. The constitutional conventions are the unwritten rules that make the written rules work. The AG’s interpretation of the constitution without considering the constitutional conventions is erroneous.

The meaning of ‘responsible government’

The AG has failed to give effect to the concept of a “responsible government” in his statement. The term has a very precise constitutional meaning.

It means that a government – consisting of the prime minister and his cabinet – must at all times enjoy the confidence of the majority of the MPs. This rule is the foundation of the parliamentary democratic system. The name given to this rule is the “confidence convention”.

Under this rule, the government is responsible to Parliament for the exercise of the powers of government and governs only as long as it has the confidence of the majority-elected MPs – hence the term “responsible government.”

Articles 43(2), (3) and (4) operate on the basis of the confidence convention:

- Article 43(2)(a) provides that the Agong is to appoint a prime minister who in his judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority MPs.
- Article 43(3) provides that the cabinet is collectively responsible to Parliament.
- Article 43(4) provides that if the prime minister ceases to command the confidence of the majority unless the Agong at the prime minister’s request dissolves Parliament, he is required to resign.


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