All 13 Umno assemblypersons in Malacca are prepared to support a no-confidence vote against the state government led by Chief Minister Adly Zahari, said opposition leader Idris Haron.
“There are rumours that a no-confidence vote (will be tabled), we in BN have already lost faith in the current state government.
“If there is a no-confidence vote, we 13 assemblypersons will support it,” Idris (above) told Malaysiakini.
Pakatan Harapan has a fragile two-seat majority in the Malacca state government. The coalition has 15 seats – DAP (8), PKR (3), Amanah (2) and Bersatu (2) – whereas Umno has 13.
Commenting on what transpired in the House yesterday, Idris said the opposition is not involved in the state government's internal squabbles.
“But if they put forth a vote of no confidence, we welcome it and all our assemblypersons will back it,” he reiterated.
He was responding to PKR's Machap Jaya assemblyperson Ginie Lim and Rembia assemblyperson Muhammad Jailani Khamis leaving the House just before voting on a state government motion was conducted.
The motion was to nominate Malacca PKR chief Halim Bachik as a senator representing the state.
The absence of the two assemblypersons was linked to the worsening rift in PKR between the factions of president Anwar Ibrahim and his estranged deputy Azmin Ali.
Lim and Jailani are said to be aligned to Azmin whereas Halim is reportedly linked to Anwar.
The motion was subsequently defeated 13-12 votes.
Another Harapan assemblyperson, G Saminathan from DAP, was also absent as he was among those detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma) 2012 for attempting to revive the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Today, PKR information chief Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin said the two assemblypersons claimed to have given prior notice to the assembly of their absence.
Rejecting the claim that the issue could be related to factionalism within PKR, he attributed it to possible miscommunication instead.
However, Anwar had earlier described the pair's action as unacceptable.
Asked if the motion's defeat was linked to the infighting within PKR, Anwar said assemblypersons should support the state government regardless of their inclination.
"Infighting or not, the decision of the state and the party must be respected," he said.
Responding to another question, the PKR president also did not believe the move was linked to the speculated attempt to topple the existing state government.
Meanwhile, Idris urged Malacca Umno chairperson Abdul Rauf Yusoh to challenge the state assembly's decision to reject the latter's nomination as a senator.
He said during yesterday's proceedings, the opposition nominated Rauf and it received majority support.
“The speaker should have been fair. We had the majority votes and Rauf's nomination as senator should have been accepted.
“Therefore, I am asking Rauf to challenge the decision,” he said. - Mkini
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