by Ganesh Sahathevan
Anwar Ibrahim and others have insisted that there is UK precedent for the appointment of Anwar as the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia, for his Pakatan Harapan has the largest number of elected representatives, even if they do not have a majority of the 222 seats that constitute the Malaysian Parliament's Dewan Rakyat.
"That an humble Address be presented to His Majesty, as followeth:—
Most Gracious Sovereign,
We, Your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in Parliament assembled, beg leave to offer our humble thanks to Your Majesty for the Gracious Speech which Your Majesty has addressed to both Houses of Parliament.
But it is our duty respectfully to submit to your Majesty that Your Majesty's present advisers have not the confidence of this House."
On 30 January 1855 the Government of the day resigned, before it could be deposed by a vote of the Members.
These were the same type of circumstances that the Agong and then Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin faced in early 2020. The situation was evaded by having the Agong deliver his speech without there being a debate. While there was not a legal challenge, the manoeuvre was likely to have been illegal.
Sunday, October 18, 2020
Convention and law requires a motion of no confidence to be heard first: Failure to do so can embarrass The Agong should the Motion Of Thanks be rejected by the majority of Members
by Ganesh Sahathevan
The Speaker of Malaysia's Dewan Rakyat has attempted via the video above, which is currently making the rounds on social media and Whatsapp, to explain why he has no power to have a Motion Of No Confidence in the government moved up the agenda for the coming sitting of the Dewan Rakyat.
Assuming that the Speaker's analysis of the conventions is correct, a number of problems arise. First, the Motion of Thanks may be rejected by the majority of the Members of the Dewan Rakyat. The Opening Address, while read by the Agong, is prepared by the government, and outlines the government's agenda for the coming term. It follows that the agenda would be rejected by Members who have lost confidence in the government, by rejecting the Motion of Thanks.
The issue arose earlier this year, and as readers will recall, the government evaded the issue by cancelling the debate on the Motion of Thanks.That evasion, which is against convention and law, caused insult to the Agong by making his speech irrelevant (see below).
Additionally, any Member can choose, during the debate on the Motion Of Thanks to move a motion of no confidence against the government.
In light of the above it is clear that reliance on convention to prolong the life of a government that has lost the confidence of the majority is meaningless. In fact, the Speaker, being the spokesperson for the Dewan Rakyat in its relations with the other parts of the Parliament, including the Agong, may in fact be in breach of his duties to the Members, and the Agong,if he does not have the motion of no confidence heard as a matter of priority.
TO BE READ WITH
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
Malaysia's King will address Parliament, but his Royal Address will be ignored, and be of no consequence: King's Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to blame; fear of a motion of no confidence during the debate on the Royal Address may have motivated the insult
The Star has reported:
Most Gracious Sovereign,
We, Your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in Parliament assembled, beg leave to offer our humble thanks to Your Majesty for the Gracious Speech which Your Majesty has addressed to both Houses of Parliament.
But it is our duty respectfully to submit to your Majesty that Your Majesty's present advisers have not the confidence of this House."[40]
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Parliament Speaker Mohamad Ariff Md Yusoff has accepted Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s proposed vote of no-confidence against Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
In a statement on Friday (May 8), the speaker said that he has accepted the former prime minister's motion, which states that Mr Muhyiddin does not have the confidence of the majority of the Members of Parliament (MPs).
However, it was not spelt out in the statement whether the motion will be debated in the upcoming one-day sitting on May 18.
In the same statement, Mr Mohamad Ariff also rejected a separate motion tabled by Dr Mahathir for him to remain as the speaker until the current parliament is dissolved.
He also reiterated that he will not be allowing the tabling of a motion sought by Semporna MP and Sabah Chief Minister Mohd Shafie Apdal, to determine that Dr Mahathir has the confidence of parliament.
Mr Mohammad Ariff said the motion was inconsistent with Article 43 of the Federal Constitution and disputes the authority of the king in the matter of appointing the prime minister.
Parliament is scheduled to sit for one day on May 18. It was originally scheduled to sit from Mar 9 to Apr 16 but that was postponed until May 18 to Jun 23 following a change of government which saw Mr Muhyiddin being appointed prime minister.
The government later decided to hold a one-day sitting, on May 18, in view of the movement control order (MCO) that was imposed on Mar 18 to curb the spread of COVID-19.
In March, Dr Mahathir said that Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) attempt to table a no-confidence motion against Mr Muhyiddin Yassin in parliament was unlikely to succeed.
“Now that he is the government, he can afford to offer inducements to many,” said Dr Mahathir on Mar 10.
“I found that some of my supporters have been made ministers, so they switched sides.”
Source: CNA/am(aw)
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