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PETALING JAYA: The ball is at the feet of Dewan Rakyat chairman Azhar Azizan Harun on whether to call a debate on the confidence motion against Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, said a constitutional lawyer.
“One would expect him to act like a gentleman and uphold the spirit of the Federal Constitution,” said Dominic Puthucheary, who was a former Barisan Nasional MP for a term for Nibong Tebal.
He said Azhar should allow the motion to take precedence over the budget vote after 25 opposition MPs had requested that Muhyiddin’s legitimacy be tested first from the chamber floor.
Puthucheary said this in response to a stance by Gua Musang Tengku MP Razaleigh Hamzah that he would not attend the 2021 budget debate until the government’s legality had been established.
In a letter to the spokesperson, Tengku Razaleigh, who is one of the longest-serving MPs, criticized Azhar for having made what he described as an erroneous suggestion to consult Law Minister Takiyuddin Hassan on the filing of the motion of no confidence. against the prime minister. .
To discuss the budget without first establishing the legitimacy of the prime minister and his ministers is “to compromise an important constitutional principle,” said Razaleigh, better known as Ku Li.
He added that such a commitment would have serious consequences in the defense of the constitution and said it was a “possible use of political corruption to maintain power.”
“In my opinion, I consider that ‘political corruption’ by its very nature can be described as the ‘worm in the cocoon’ that will destroy our constitutional system of democracy from within.
“The public domain view is that ‘political corruption’ and money are destroying our nation’s soil and our political system,” Razaleigh said.
He said that since the legitimacy of the government had not yet been decided, he was bound by his conscience under oath to faithfully fulfill his duties to preserve, protect and defend the constitution.
Ku Li said that Dewan Rakyat was an autonomous and independent institution outside the control of the executive or any other authority.
“It is only in this way that it can genuinely represent the rakyat as intended by the constitution,” he said.
He added that submitting the motion to the consent of the minister of justice would nullify the purpose of article 43 of the Federal Constitution.
The article calls for the prime minister to resign from the cabinet if he ceases to have the confidence of the Dewan Rakyat majority, unless the Yang di-Pertuan Agong has agreed to dissolve Parliament.
He said, therefore, that the Minister of Justice is also subject to the motion of censure.
The speaker’s suggestion to consult the minister of justice was raised as a matter of procedure, as parliamentary practice is for government business to take precedence over any other matter.
Razaleigh wrote to Azhar in September asking for a guarantee that the no-confidence motion would be raised at Dewan Rakyat’s next meeting.
Azhar had replied which was subject to the rules of the Dewan Rakyat. “Please negotiate with Takiyuddin to prioritize certain private motions,” Azhar had said.
Puthucheary said it was a constitutional convention that the legitimacy of the government had to be determined first before other affairs of the house were carried out.
“In our constitutional scheme, the King appoints the prime minister, but it is the elected members who decide whether the government falls or remains through a vote.
“This is especially true when there are doubts about whether Muhyiddin has the majority support of his party or coalition.”
Lawyer Syed Iskandar Syed Jaafar al-Mahdzar said Azhar had wide discretion in conducting business in Dewan Rakyat and did not need to consult anyone.
“Therefore, it is entirely up to him to reconsider his previous decision on whether to allow a vote of no confidence to be debated and voted on,” he said.
Syed Iskandar said that standing orders are subsidiary legislation and are drawn up in accordance with the constitution.
Other constitutional lawyers have also said that parliament cannot be subordinate to the executive when the democratic system under the constitution requires the executive to be accountable to the legislature.
