Motion of no-confidence not unique to country's system - Azhar

KUALA LUMPUR: Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun has stressed that the motion of no confidence under the Standing Orders is not unique to the system practised in the country.

In a statement yesterday, he said the system practised in Australia was almost similar to Malaysia’s in which a motion of no confidence vote would not be expedited unless it is taken up by a minister.

However, Azhar emphasised that any motion brought before him or the Dewan Rakyat secretary in accordance with the Standing Orders would be handled in accordance with the existing law.

“I refer to the letter by Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Tengku Mohd Hamzah dated Sept 25, 2020, to me and my reply to him dated Sept 29, 2020.

“I understand that the letters have been distributed by the office of Tengku Razaleigh and have become common knowledge.

“First of all, I would like to thank Tengku Razaleigh for giving me a chance to explain the position of the no-confidence motion that he thought was prevented from being debated by listing it at the end of the debate list,” he said.

According to Azhar, he had answered Tengku Razaleigh's concerns in writing in his reply letter and also thanked the chairman of the UMNO Advisory Council for giving him the opportunity to explain the position verbally.

Earlier, Tengku Razaleigh had asked for a motion of no-confidence against the Prime Minister to be given priority to be discussed at the next Dewan Rakyat sitting, which is scheduled to start on Nov 2.

The call was made through a letter sent to the Dewan Rakyat Speaker on Sept 25 and which was shared with the media yesterday.

Tengku Razaleigh was of the view that the motion was important in ensuring that the Prime Minister gained the trust of the Dewan Rakyat in accordance with Article 43 of the Federal Constitution.

Tengku Razaleigh's letter, dated Sept 25, refers to a motion of no-confidence against Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin that was submitted by Langkawi MP Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in the Parliament sitting in May and carried over to the July session.

The revelation also included Azhar's reply letter dated Sept 29, which, among others, stated that the Prime Minister's claims that he did not allow the motion of no-confidence to be debated was untrue and explained that the order of the last meeting was made by the former Speaker Tan Sri Mohamad Ariff Mohd Yusof.

-- BERNAMA