COMMENT | The surest way to stop people from questioning the legitimacy of the new government is to evoke the name of the king. Once the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is mentioned, people are expected to clamp their mouths shut.

It is true that the king played a crucial role in breaking the political impasse by naming Muhyiddin Yassin as the new prime minister. No one disputes the right of the king to exercise his power under the Federal Constitution.

The palace intervention could be regarded as timely to defuse a potentially explosive situation...

But no one can deny that the accession of Muhyiddin to the seat of power was not through the mandate of the people. He came in by way of political intrigues and a royal decree...