Speaker says confidence need not come from Parliament, cites Nizar case, Sabah

 

PARLIAMENT | Whether or not Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has majority support can be proven outside Parliament, said speaker Azhar Azizan Harun.

He said this was clear from the changes of government in Perak in 2009, and Sabah in 2018.

This indirectly shifts the burden to Muhyiddin's rivals to prove that they have majority support, with the speaker adamant that he could not fast track a vote of confidence in the House.

PKR president Anwar Ibrahim had previously claimed to have a strong majority to become prime minister but has yet to prove it. Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has also been challenging Muhyiddin to prove the latter has majority.

Speaking in the Dewan Rakyat today, Azhar said the 2009 change of government in Perak was law.

"How can confidence be expressed, we look at case law. The case law with the highest authority is Nizar vs Zambry in the Federal Court.

"Votes of no confidence, or confidence, need not come from the House floor. That is established in Malaysia, that is our law.

"That is what happened in Perak (in 2009) and in Sabah," he said, adding that there were two attempts to change the government of Sabah outside of the state legislature since 2018.

BN had staged a coup in Perak in February 2009 when three Pakatan Rakyat state lawmakers declared themselves as independents.

The trio then supported BN to form the Perak state government, which led to a series of court battles between former PAS menteri besar Nizar Jamaluddin and Umno's Zambry Abdul Kadir.

Ultimately, the Federal Court, in February 2010, declared Zambry as the lawful menteri besar.

This ruling was upheld when BN tried to challenge Warisan's takeover of Sabah through defections shortly after the 2018 general election.

Earlier, Azhar was pressed on a vote of confidence, with RSN Rayer (Harapan-Jelutong) citing the ousting of Bersatu's Ahmad Faizal Azumu as Perak menteri besar through a vote of confidence last week.

Azhar said he was not bound by other speaker's rulings, and insisted he had no power to fast track the motion himself.

"I have no power. If any MPs want to know this in detail, I am prepared to show my research to all. I did not do this willy nilly," he said.

[More to follow] - Mkini