PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin should call for an emergency Dewan Rakyat sitting to see if he has the support among MPs to continue leading the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government, lawyers said.
They said no Umno division and Supreme Council resolution could decide Muhyidin’s fate as the stand of political parties was irrelevant and of no consequence in the appointment and removal of a prime minister.
Lawyer Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali said Muhyiddin could invoke Standing Order 11 (3) of the Dewan Rakyat to call for a sitting to test the level of support he enjoys among MPs.
“Call it a confidence vote or a no-confidence motion, the speaker cannot reject it if it comes from the leader of the house, who is the prime minister,” he told FMT.
Rafique said that under the present scheme of the Federal Constitution, only MPs and not political parties could decide the fate of the prime minister, a position constitutionally appointed by the King.
“It is now the appropriate time to test his legitimacy as prime minister and call Umno’s game a bluff,” he said, adding that only the position taken by the 38 MPs from Umno would decide Muhyiddin’s fate.
The lawyer said this in response to statements issued by key Umno leaders when the party held its divisional meetings over the weeked.
Pulai Umno passed a resolution asking party leaders to quit the PN government immediately to force a general election.
Its head, Nur Jazlan Mohamed, said the delegates at the annual general meeting had unanimously decided that Umno’s reputation would be blemished as the party would be blamed for the failure of PN to govern properly.
Pontian Umno chief Ahmad Mazlan said snap elections should be held soon since the Covid-19 vaccines would be made available to Malaysians.
Ahmad, who is also the Umno secretary-general, said a fresh general election was the only way to resolve the political instability caused by PN clinging to power with what he described as the “slimmest majority in the world”.
Pekan Umno division chief and former prime minister Najib Razak said Umno must leave PN, warning that the party’s supporting role in the current government administration would kill off Umno slowly.
“We have to leave. If we stay, then Umno will no longer be an influential party,’ he had said.
Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the party’s Supreme Council would debate a motion on the future of Umno’s relationship with PPBM, the party led by Muhyiddin.
He said the motion would be tabled at a Supreme Council meeting tomorrow on whether to cooperate with PPBM in the coming general election.
Zahid said 143 of Umno’s 191 divisional heads had agreed with a proposal to reject cooperation with PPBM.
Lawyer Syed Iskandar Jaafar al-Mahdzar said Umno’s resolution was like “words on running water” and had no legal effect on Muhyiddin’s position.
“The prime minister’s position is decided by elected MPs on the floor of the Dewan Rakyat,” he said, alluding to Article 43 (2) (b) of the constitution that the King appointed a prime minister who, in his judgment, was likely to command the confidence of the majority.
Syed Iskandar said a prime minister who lost a confidence vote could tender his resignation or request the King to dissolve Parliament to hold fresh polls.
“However, Article 40 (2) (a) gives the absolute discretion to the King not to call for snap elections,” he said, adding that in that case, the monarch would repeat the exercise under Article 43 (2) (b).
Lawyer Jayaseelan Anthony said political parties could only nominate candidates but MPs actually represented voters in their constituencies.
PN came to power in March after the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government when Dr Mahathir Mohamad, then the PH chairman, resigned as prime minister.
A simple majority of 112 seats is required to form the government. - FMT
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