There is no indication that Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has lost the support of the majority of MPs in the Dewan Rakyat, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan.
Following that, he said the 25 motions of no-confidence and two motions of confidence listed as the 26th item and 27th item in today’s Order Paper, are not matters that need to be expedited.
“I would like to clarify that we are subject to Standing Orders 14 and 15 (1) that clearly state that government business should take precedence over other businesses, as there is no indication that Yang Berhormat Pagoh has lost the support.
“The government is of the view that these motions of no-confidence and confidence are specific in nature and in the public interest, I believe the Dewan is of the view that there is no urgency in this,” he said.
Takiyuddin said Regulation 15 (1) of the Standing Orders stated that Government business shall have precedence over Private Members’ business in every sitting.
“Since there is nothing to proof Pagoh (Muhyiddin) has lost the confidence (as the prime minister) and after taking into consideration the interest of the public, the government is of the view that any motion of no-confidence and confidence involving a person should not be rushed by the Dewan Rakyat,” Takiyuddin said during the Minister’s Question Time (MQT).
He was answering a question from Hassan Abdul Karim (PH-Pasir Gudang) who wanted to know when 25 motions of no-confidence and two motions of confidence would be tabled, debated and voted during the Minister’s Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat today.
The 2021 Budget with a generous allocation of RM322.5 billion that was passed at the policy stage on Dec 26, said Takiyuddin, put to rest claims by the opposition that Muhyiddin had lost majority support from members of Parliament.
“The opposition (lawmakers) had said that if the Supply (Budget) Bill 2021 or the 2021 Budget was not approved, it will reflect that the prime minister had lost the confidence among the majority (of the MPs).
“However, as we all know, the 2021 Budget was approved (at the policy stage) on Dec 26 unanimously with only a few MPs abstaining.
“This has been reflected in the record of the Dewan Rakyat sitting. Hence, there is no question that Pagoh has lost the majority support or had a reduction in support (from the MPs),” he said.
Takiyuddin also highlighted the incident where Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (PH – Port Dickson) had claimed that the later commanded enough support to topple the present Perikatan Nasional government and become the next Prime Minister.
He said Anwar, however, did not manage to provide substantial evidence to prove that he had the majority support to become the prime minister when the latter was granted an audience with Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah on Oct 13.
“I’d like to ask permission from the House to read the statement issued by Istana Negara, which stated that, during the meeting that lasted for 25 minutes, Anwar had only presented the total number of MPs who had supported him.
“He, however, did not present the list of names of MPs who pledged their support to him,” he said.
Takiyuddin said the present government upholds the principle of democracy and welcomes any person if he can prove to have the majority support to become the prime minister.
“This government is very open in the event that any of the MPs can present statutory declarations to prove they have the support of more 112 MPs to become the prime minister to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
“We will adhere to the process of democracy as upheld in the country,” he said.
Anwar, who drew flak from Pakatan Harapan MPs after backtracking from a plan to vote down the budget, had recently said a confidence motion was necessary in view of Malaysia’s sovereign credit ratings downgrade by Fitch Ratings.