Speaker has the right to reject vote of no confidence - Ku Li

Gua Musang MP Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah today said that the Speaker of the House Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia has the right to decide whether a motion of no confidence can be done or not.

The Barisan Nasional (BN) lawmaker said the Speaker has the power to reject motions if they are not included in the Parliamentary Standing Orders used by the Dewan Rakyat.

However, he added that it is the right for any Members of Parliament (MPs) to bring a motion of no-confidence in Parliament.

"That is our right as Members of Parliament to bring a motion of no-confidence against the ruling government.

"But we were also told that the Speaker can reject a motion if it is not included in the Parliamentary Standing Orders," he said at a press conference today.

"If from the beginning, efforts to put forward such a motion was not approved by the Speaker, but there are other ways. We will discuss that in a different forum," he said.

The press conference was called over the detention of former UMNO Batu Kawan division deputy chief Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan and lawyer Matthias Chang.

The Magistrate Court today charged Chang and Khairuddin with sabotaging the country's banking and financial services.

The press conference took place at Yayasan Kepimpinan Perdana, Putrajaya.

Several other BN heavyweights who also appeared at the press conference were former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, UMNO deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, UMNO vice-president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal, former UMNO secretary-general Tan Sri Sanusi Junid dan former MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat.