PUTRAJAYA: There is no need for Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to undergo a vote of confidence in Parliament to determine his legitimacy as Prime Minister, says Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
He added that the Federal Constitution accords the Yang di-Pertuan Agong wide powers to appoint a prime minister based on who he believes has the majority support.
He said that at that time, 114 lawmakers had stated to the King their support for Ismail Sabri as Prime Minister.
“The need to have a vote of confidence is not part of the country’s system nor is it a law, but has been done before to show that the Prime Minister had strong support,” he said yesterday.
He cited former prime ministers Tun Hussein Onn and Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, both of whom had gone through a vote of confidence and eventually gained strong support in the House.
Wan Junaidi said that since the lawmakers had stated their support for Ismail Sabri to the King, the MPs would not have changed their stand “in such a short time”.
“(I believe) based on this, Tuanku (His Majesty) consented that there is no need to have a vote of confidence,” he added.
To another question, Wan Junaidi said that a Recall Election Bill will have to undergo several processes before it can be listed in the Parliament’s Order Paper to be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat.
“It can only be listed after all government affairs are settled. Meaning it will not be given priority (to be tabled in Parliament),” he added.
Former deputy speaker Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said had submitted a notice of motion to table a Recall Bill in the coming Parliament session to hold MPs accountable for party-hopping.
The notice sent by the Pengerang MP to the Dewan Rakyat Speaker is a Private Member’s Bill based on Standing Orders 49(1) where she proposed for the Bill to be called the “Dismissal of Members of Parliament Bill 2021”.
The MCA has also proposed a House of Representatives Recall (HORR) Bill that targets MPs who commit misdemeanours or switch parties.
Party secretary-general Datuk Chong Sin Woon said the Bill would make MPs more accountable for their actions because they can be recalled.
On another matter, Wan Junaidi said the plan to draft new syariah laws has not been raised in the Cabinet.
He added that matters involving religion were under the jurisdiction of the states.
“If the Federal Government drafts such laws, it is not really binding. We need to engage with the states to see if they agree to such laws,” he said.
He was commenting on a statement by Deputy Minister in charge of religious affairs Ahmad Marzuk Shaary, who said the government planned to draft four new syariah laws, including the Control on the Propagation of non-Muslim Religions Bill. - Star
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