Opposition's rejection of SOSMA motion not against MOU - Khairy

SEPANG: The opposition's move in voting against an extension of subsection 4(5) of the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (SOSMA) does not amount to breaching the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Transformation and Political Stability it signed with the government, said Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

He said the Cabinet discussed this issue yesterday and found that the opposition members of parliament (MPs) who voted against the motion in the Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday did not contravene the MoU, which was signed in September last year.

"The MoU only applies to laws or bills which can cause a loss of confidence in the government. That concerns only the supply bill which is better known as the budget or a motion of no confidence (on the prime minister).

"I think other ordinary laws like the SOSMA motion are not subject to the MoU because it does not mean loss of confidence in the government, only disagreement with a provision, in this case SOSMA. Not against the government," he told reporters after launching the national-level MyCHAMPION here today.

The motion to extend for another five years the enforcement of the SOSMA provision was not passed after 85 MPs voted for, 86 MPs voted against and 49 MPs were absent during bloc voting.

Khairy said some opposition members had told him that their rejection of the SOSMA motion tabled by Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin did not mean they had lost confidence in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

"The opposition too stated that it did not amount to a withdrawal of support for the MoU and loss of confidence in the government.

"This is because they only disagreed with the SOSMA motion, on extending the provision on a 28-day detention without trial," he added.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar on Thursday was reported as saying that Clause 4.1 of the MoU states that it would not automatically become void if a government motion was not supported.

Wan Junaidi said the MoU would only be invalidated if both parties agreed to terminate it.

DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke was also reported as saying that the opposition's rejection of the SOSMA privision had nothing to do with the MoU.

-- BERNAMA