Conference of Rulers, Agong can only advice
DIANA AZIS
SHAH ALAM - The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah and the Malay Rulers can only give advice and views on the formation of the government after the 15th General Election (GE15).
Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research (NASR), senior fellow Azmi Hassan said the formation of a unity government as suggested by His Majesty would only be implemented if Perikatan Nasional (PN) and Pakatan Harapan (PH) agree to form the unity government.
"The Malay Rulers and the Yang di-Pertuan Agong can only give advice and views, but if politicians are stubborn (disagree with the proposal), they cannot do anything.
"His Majesty has told the leaders of both parties (PH and PN) to merge and create a unity government, but they do not agree and we understand why (the disagreement).
"Therefore, maybe the Conference of Rulers tomorrow (Thursday) will not solve this either (forming of government). Just that the Conference of Rulers can give advice because ultimately the final decision is in the hands of these political parties," he said in the Kompas Rasuah Busters programme titled 'Drama politik belum berakhir' which was broadcasted live on all Sinar Harian digital platforms on Wednesday.
Also invited to be a panelist was political analyst, Badrul Hisham Ismail, while Anim Ezati Rizki acted as moderator.
In the meantime, Azmi is of the view that Barisan Nasional (BN) which was seen as the kingmaker in the formation of the post-GE15 government needed to state its position so that the hung Parliament situation would end.
"Tomorrow (Thursday) after the meeting of the Conference of Rulers convenes, if a decision is not reached by BN because they are the kingmakers, and if they are still divided, then it may not be completed (formation of the government).
"However, I believe this problem will be resolved because they (BN) have already met with the leadership of PH and PN.
"However, if the government formed after this is not strong and still fighting (between parties), we will become like Israel.
“It is not easy to discuss (between parties) but sacrifices have to be made," he said.
