Amanah MPs submit motion to remove Azhar as Speaker

 

Amanah president Mohamad Sabu says Dewan Rakyat Speaker Azhar Azizan Harun should be replaced by his predecessor, Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof.

PETALING JAYA: All 11 Amanah MPs have submitted a motion for Dewan Rakyat Speaker Azhar Azizan Harun to vacate his post, says Amanah president Mohamad Sabu.

In a statement today, Mohamad said Amanah also proposed that Azhar’s predecessor, Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof, be reappointed to the post.

Mohamad, or Mat Sabu as he is popularly known, said the MPs’ motion was in line with Order 4(1) of the Dewan Rakyat’s Standing Orders (Procedure for election of Yang di-Pertua).

He said they submitted the motion due to Azhar’s actions during the special parliamentary session on July 26-29, which they said went against Article 150 (3) and Article 62 of the Federal Constitution.

“His actions also go against the function of the constitutional monarchy system in the context of basic principles of parliamentary democracy and the constitutional monarchy,” he said.

Azhar and de facto law minister Takiyuddin Hassan faced intense calls to resign last month following revelations that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong had not consented to the revocation of the emergency ordinances (EOs).

On July 26, Takiyuddin said the EOs had been revoked on July 21, leading to MPs questioning if the King had given consent for the revocation.

However, when MPs questioned Azhar about it, he insisted that Takiyuddin should be allowed to explain the matter the following week.

Azhar has also been recently pushed to deny that he sent a letter to the King admitting that the government had lost its majority.

This was in response to a letter that the Palace wrote to Azhar on Aug 9 seeking an update on the number of MPs who supported Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

In the letter, Azhar had allegedly mentioned to the King that Muhyiddin had the support of only 100 MPs in the Dewan Rakyat following the resignation of higher education minister Noraini Ahmad.

The motion to remove Ariff as Dewan Rakyat Speaker was passed by a narrow vote in July 2020, with 111 government MPs in support and 109 from Pakatan Harapan against it.

When wrapping up the motion, Takiyuddin acknowledged that it was the first time in the country’s history that a sitting speaker had been removed. - FMT