No confidence motion against PM should be given priority, says Ku Li in letter to Speaker

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 15): Following his audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong yesterday, Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah (pictured) has released a letter expressing his support for a motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to be put forward in Parliament.

The letter, dated Sept 25, was addressed to Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun and had stated Razaleigh’s position that the motion by former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad should be brought forward and debated in Parliament, as it is important to ensure the legitimacy of the Government led by Muhyiddin.

“I am of the opinion that the motion must be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat as a key matter that requires immediate attention, so that the government led by the Prime Minister can affirm its legitimacy in the Dewan Rakyat,” he wrote in the letter.

He also said that there are no provisions under the Standing Orders that can block this motion from being tabled in Parliament and requested for Azhar to guarantee that the motion of no confidence will be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat at the upcoming session.

In the letter, the former Finance Minister also stated that he was offered an advisory position in Petronas, which he rejected, as he had adhered to Section 48(1)(c) of the Federal Constitution which calls for the disqualification of an MP in the event that he “holds a position with income”.

“This subsection is aimed at preventing MPs from supporting or voting for the sake of supporting the government due to political bribery (penyogokan politik),” wrote Razaleigh.

“Political bribery poses a threat to our constitutional democracy,” he added.

The longtime lawmaker stressed that the provision under the Federal Constitution is to disqualify the membership of MPs, in the interest of the integrity of the Constitution itself and the Dewan Rakyat.

A spokesperson for Razaleigh told theedgemarkets.com that the views expressed in the letter were of his own and does not represent UMNO or any other group.  

It is also understood that the Gua Musang MP wants the letter to be made public after his audience with Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah at Istana Negara yesterday.

Meanwhile, the speaker had responded to Razaleigh’s letter via a letter dated Sept 29, highlighting that Rule 15 of the Standing Orders state that Government matters have to be dealt with first and foremost before any other matter.

Therefore, all Bills and Government motions were brought forward during the previous session of the Dewan Rakyat, wrote Azhar.

Private motions, including the motion of no confidence against Muhyiddin from Dr Mahathir (MP for Langkawi) and the motion of confidence for the Prime Minister from Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim (Arau), Nik Muhammad Zawawi Salleh (Pasir Puteh) and Mohd Fasiah Mohd Fakeh (Sabak Bernam) were listed based on when the motions were received.

“The private motions that are received earlier would be listed higher in the Order Paper. In this case, the private motions by [the MPs for] Tuaran, Bukit Bintang, Gerik and Arau were received earlier as compared with Langkawi’s [motion],” he said.

Azhar also added that the arrangement of matters in the Order Paper was actually done by his predecessor and not himself.

“Therefore, the allegation that the Prime Minister did not allow the motion of no confidence to be debated by listing it at the end of the Order Paper is not true as the motion was listed in accordance with the Standing Orders, and Government matters must be brought forward first as stated in the Standing Orders,” he said.

Azhar went on to say that he cannot guarantee that the motion of no confidence would be tabled in Dewan Rakyat, as he is bound by the Standing Orders.

However, he said he has no issues for private motions to be tabled once Government matters are dealt with, or in the event that a Minister motions to bring forward a private motion.

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