Question.
The Prime Minister is in Yemen.
The Deputy Prime Minister is in Saudi Arabia.
So, who exactly is in charge?
The king?
Please do not tell me that it is somebody on the fourth floor.
This case also occurred in 2005.
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[1116] Of dear Malaysians, take me to your leader
11 replies on “[1116] Of dear Malaysians, take me to your leader”
Are you sure?
Not the TPM?
And I have yet to see anything official on it. It all been opinion.
The next in line to the PM is the Speaker of parliament.
What if they’re dead?
And Dave, as much as its a mobile world nowadays, its possible to disrupt communication. Jammer technology are available.
And regardless of the small world effect, Malaysia still need a clear succession line. In case of emergency, it will cut confusion low enough that we could move forward.
your country and work is only a phone call, email and a web telecon away jebai… welcome to the new world…
also… in case of emergency… say malaysia kena attack by singapore and thailand… you think these ppl still staying in Malaysia? they will be hopping onto their airforce one like plane and be wisked away to some undisclosed secret location like a beach in the caribbeans sipping pina colada and encourage the brave malaysians still stuck back home to stand up and fight while they look at the nice coconut trees their hammocks are tied to and tell ppl how much this reminds them of home… and how they wish to get home asap…
Tun Ling Liong Sik was never Prime Minister but was temporarily chairman of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition when UMNO was declared illegal.
The system that is in place now is for the lower house of Parliament to decide on who has the confidence of the majority. So its pretty much the system of impromptu, so to speak!
As Barisan Nasional, and its predecessor the Alliance, having been always in power, the convention is always the senior leader in UMNO.
Wonder what it will be if the other parties are ever in power. The dominant party must ensure it has at least 51 percent of votes in the Dewan Rakyat to get its leader named as Prime Minister.
Yes, we might have taken the design of our flag from the United States but definitely not its system of safeguards in terms of line of succession.
Interesting. Thanks for bringing this up, Hafiz!
True, but was that done based on system-basis or impromptu-basis?
Heaven-forbid, in time of war or civil strive, it would be ugly if it is based on the latter.
Wasn’t Dr Ling Leong Sik the PM of Malaysia for a while while UMNO was dissolved in 1988?
True.
The line of succession is quite vague in Malaysia but as far as convention goes, the legislator who commands the confidence of the majority gets the job!
In this case, again by convention, it will be the Deputy Prime Minister.
In terms of seniority, the Prime Minister is the first among equals in the Cabinet, but in all branches of government, he is followed by the Speakers of Dewan Negara and Rakyat and the Chief Justice (or Lord President previously).
In practical terms, if both the current Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister is incapacitated, it is a free-for-all in UMNO and Barisan Nasional.
Like the case when UMNO was declared illegal in 1988, I can only presume that MCA as next senior party in the coalition could offer its president as the acting coalition leader and premier.
But yes, no real line of succession.
It’s not about having the guys to be there to steer the country all the time. Instead, it’s about prudence. In case of emergency which requires the highest office to make a decision while the person in office is absence, like what you said, who’d call the shot?
That is what I am getting at. In fact, does Malaysia have some sort of succession line?
An example of succession line is that of the US.
Hahahahahaha… the country has always been autopilot! Do we actually need these guys to be physically around to steer the nation all the time?
Don’t think so! But I do wonder who calls the shots now? The Chief Secretary to the Government?
Also, there is that finicky point that there is no such thing as a Deputy Prime Minister in the Constitution of Malaysia despite Anwar Ibrahim’s suit that it is unconstitutional to sack him from that post.
It is a convention started by Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman. Which also means in theory the Prime Minister can appoint more than one deputy.
The only other post that is in the constitution due to its importance is the Minister of Finance.
As for the fourth floor, don’t think they can even find their way out of the labyrinth in Perdana Putra! Let alone lead the nation.
hafiz..the de facto PM la….remember, we are a feudal society. all this pretence of democracy is just to be chummy with USA