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PETALING JAYA: A motion of confidence in Dewan Rakyat should be treated as urgent and of public importance, lawyer and former law professor Gurdial Singh Nijar said today.
He said the importance of the motion stemmed from the constitutional provision that the prime minister must resign if he loses Dewan Rakyat’s trust.
“This implies that the prime minister loses the support of the majority if there is a successful motion of no confidence against him in the chamber,” Gurdial said. “The prime minister is said to have lost support if a supply law is also rejected.”
This constitutional provision indirectly showed that a confidence motion could be taken even though it is not specifically mentioned in the constitution, he said.
Therefore, Dewan Rakyat chairman Azhar Harun should treat a vote of no confidence in the prime minister as urgent and of public importance, as required by the Rules of Procedure, Gurdial said.
“In fact, such a motion should even take precedence over all other governmental matters,” he added.
The Supplies Bill 2021 (the federal budget for next year) is scheduled to go to a vote on Thursday. MPs have also filed 25 no-confidence motions against Muhyiddin Yassin as prime minister. However, the speaker has said that it will be up to the minister of law whether he gives priority to the motion over government business.
The minister, Takiyuddin Hassan, had said yesterday that there were no procedures in the constitution or Dewan Rakyat’s Bylaws for a vote of no confidence against the prime minister. He also said that Yang di-Pertuan Agong had the prerogative and could better decide how to determine whether the prime minister has enough support.
However, Gurdial said the constitution indirectly showed that a vote of no confidence could be taken on the prime minister.
Another lawyer, Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali, said that Takiyuddin should study the precedent set by the Federal Court in 2010 when defections led to the collapse of the government headed by Muhammad Nizar Jamaluddin, leading to the appointment of the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah. by Zambry Abdul Kadir when we have the information. to head a new government.
Rafique said that the Federal Court had decided that the support measure (for the head of government) “could be measured not within the legislature but also through external factors.”
He said that the legitimacy of the Muhyiddin government should be tested on the Dewan Rakyat floor.
“The important thing is that a vote in the chamber will clearly show the numerical support that the prime minister enjoyed,” he added.
