The Constitution in the Dock.

16. The Executive Council.

(1) His Royal Highness shall appoint an Executive Council.

(2) The Executive Council shall be appointed as follows, that is to say-

(a) His Royal Highness shall first appoint as Mentri Besar to preside over the Executive Council a member of the Legislative Assembly who in his judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of the Assembly; and

(b) he shall on the advice of the Mentri Besar appoint not more than ten nor less than four other members from among the members of the Legislative Assembly; 'but if an appointment is made while the Legislative Assembly is dissolved a person who was a member of the Last Legislative Assembly may be appointed but shall not continue to hold office after the first sitting of the next Legislative Assembly unless he is a member thereof.

(3) Notwithstanding anythng in this Article, a person who is a citizen by naturalisation or by registration under Article 17 of the Federal Constitution shall not be appointed Mentri Besar.

(4) In appointing a Mentri Besar, His Royal Highness may, in his discretion, dispense with any provision in the Constitution of the State restricting his choice of a Mentri Besar, if in his opinion it is necessary to do in order to comply with the provisions of this Article.

(5) The Executive Council shall be collectively responsible to the Legislative Assembly.

(6) If the Mentri Besar ceases to command the confidence of the majority of the members of the Legislative Assembly, then, unless at his request His Royal Highness dissolves the Legislative Assembly, he shall tender the resignation of the Executive Council.

(7) Subject to Clause (6) a member of the Executive Council other than the Mentri Besar shall hold office at His Royal Highness' pleasure, but any member of the Council may at any time resign his office.

(8) A member of the Executive Council shall not engage in any trade, business or profession connected with any subject or department for which he is responsible and shall not, so long as he is engaged in any trade, business or profession, take part in any decision of the Executive Council relating to that trade, business or profession or in any decision likely to affect his pecuniary interests therein.


My Take:

The above is the complete unexpurgated version of Article 16 of the Perak Constitution. Now lets begin our lesson, courtesy of Revert, a FOC contribution to civil society.

The Article commences with HRH being vested with power to appoint an Executive Council (henceforth: Exco). Article 2 after reasserting HRH’s prerogative via the passive “shall be appointed” proceeds to carefully outline the proper procedures to be adhered to, which I will outline as follows in their sequential order:

…FIRST appoint the MB who is to preside over the Exco, a member of the Legislative Assembly, who in his judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of the Assembly

Comment : Note, HRH does not appoint any Ali, Chong or Samy, he appoints a member of the legislative Assembly (henceforth: MLA). In simple terms: the person who is to preside is himself a MLA just like the other MLAs. He only assumes a position of superiority, MB, not because he is a supernatural alien or a two-headed Hydra, but precisely because any board, committee, exco or group need a Head to function, to provide the inspiration, the impetus, the leadership to propel that organization forward and he is appointed because he is perceived to engender the most confidence.

But assuming the position of head does not detach the leader from the body (EXCO) under his command for he is part and parcel of them NOT some detached, aloof usurper.(proof; MBs too assume certain portfolios). They swim and sink with him just like a Captain is wont to go down with his ship, a MB is wont to go down with his Exco once he loses the right to rule.

If as some argue, he is a separate entity, how is he to be ever held accountable for the decisions of the Exco he chairs? Why is it common for MB’s to hold press conferences to announce the decisions of the exco from purchasing new cars for their comfort, to parceling land on ridiculous eternal leases to minions to appointing acolytes to bully innocent villagers. Why must a MB be beholden to his Exco if he is supposedly above them. Senang cerita, tak payahlah Exco, MB conceptualizes, MB plans, MB implements with the assistance of his appointed officers. Hence, it is crystal clear that Mr MB is never detached from his torso just as a head is never detached from its body and nor does a body walk about headless!! But what if the MB ceases to have the right to preside? Well he resigns and when does that right cease to exist? Read on……..

(5) The Executive Council shall be collectively responsible to the Legislative Assembly.

Comment: Yet another instance, which affirms my contention that Mr MB and Mr Exco are part and parcel of the same beast. A beast that needs to submit itself to examination of the vets in the LA to ascertain whether it is not rabid, infested with ticks, pilfering the butcher’s freezer, gallivanting with the village lasses or being involved in any shenanigans. Note the adverb “ collectively” and no mention nary a whisper nor a murmur or a rustle of Mr MB unscrewing himself from his body and flitting about like a wretched wraith chestless, groinless much less crotchless and limbless.


(6) If the Mentri Besar ceases to command the confidence of the majority of the members of the Legislative Assembly, then, unless at his request His Royal Highness dissolves the Legislative Assembly, he shall tender the resignation of the Executive Council.

Comment : Clear as broad daylight bathing the Collitas in the Salinas. The MB loses the confidence of the majority of the members…..NOT the majority of the Legislative Assembly. So, what now, sir Sherlock?

§ Elementary , Watson….since it is the former and not the latter, it follows that the MB should tender his resignation and since I have made it patently clear in the above, tendering the resignation of the EXCO is as good as tendering his own resignation.

§ The confidence of the majority of the MLAs. Now if you follow grammatical construction, what does the President of the United States or the Prime Minister of Britain mean to you?

It means that the individuals holding those positions be it Berak Ohbummer or Gorgon Blown cannot simply be 2 different persons in two different places. What the hell is this Revert err……. master Holmes?

Patience, Watson, you see once they walk out of the White House or 10 Downing Street for a morning lark in the park with their Uncle Stark, they remain as President and PM as long as they are STILL in their tenure. By extension a MLA remains a MLA whether he is in the august chambers of the LA, taking a nap in his attic, brushing his dog for ticks, playing in the park with his kids, cutting a ribbon in Kati or defecating in a toilet in Pasir Pinji. And through the extension of our Almighty granted logic, the self same MLA whether he votes in the assembly, or voices his intent in the palace or signs a SD expressing his desire, is the one and same person. And given that, the self same Constitution never ever anywhere and nowhere state how and where that abstraction called “confidence” is to be manifested, it is immaterial whether it is a vote in the assembly, a speech at a rally, a petition signed by many or at a gathering in front of royalty.

I may add, Watson, in the case of Perak , the very visit of the MB to the palace was not to feast on some creamed fungus with His Royal Highness but precisely to request a dissolution, an act pregnant with the admission of a loss of confidence. ( Evidence: Read the official Palace Statement, a statement not contested as its makers and signatories, namely HRH and his Private Secreatry were never called to testify)

(Aside to Watson) : Don’t tell me the MB walks into the palace to play a prank because he was bored to death by his colleagues endless request for shibboleths. Iin the olden days, he would have had his head loped off and staked for eternity if he had done so......hahahahahaha ...LOL


(7). Subject to Clause (6) a member of the Executive Council other than the Mentri Besar shall hold office at His Royal Highness' pleasure, but any member of the Council may at any time resign his office.

Comment: The all important caveat according to some but then only the wise are privy to the great mystery, not louts, thugs, scumbags mired in perfidy.

You see, this clause is in every way consistent with all that precedes it. It is put there precisely to forestall any meddling with the Executive by any Royal who secretly harbours the desire to resurrect the good old days of master and slave, of royal and knave. Any HRHs cannot sack unless the MB self-cracks (i.e., decides to resign on his own volition notwithstanding 16(6)

To put it succinctly, this provision provides for a sitting MB NOT TO BE summarily removed or dismissed at the whims and fancy of a tyrant. Yeah, the MB CANNOT BE ARBITRARILY removed but his gangrenous legs may be chopped off or his wee pecker may be circumcised if they deign to visit forbidden places or indulge in lascivious acts…hahaha LOL. But seriously, the contents of this provision is an epitome of the balanced seesaw: the ruler can sack and so can the EXCO resign, fair and square. Me thinks the rationale for this supposed "anomaly" was also to prevent a MB merry go round at the Palace's behest. See how perspicacious and prescient the framers of the Peark Constitution were.

Main points of this lesson:

1. the MB and Exco are one and the same. Chop off one body part and the other collapses like good ol’ Prabhakaran.

2. the MB resigns once the MLAs voice their loss of confidence no matter where they may be or how they may express it. Whether a vote, a petition, a collective expression of angst or even a simple request to dissolve is all indicative of loss of confidence and MR Mb automatically falls like Humpty Dumpy with his Exco frumpies.


3. the MB is afforded protection ONLY from arbitrary dismissal and nothing else by 16(7). It is a tool to protect the Executive from the Palace’s interference.


Revert: Common Folk have more Common Sense than Mindless Eggheads mired Common Yolk hahahahahaha….LOL.