Ball in Muhyiddin's court, says parliamentary observer

Parliamentary observer Ong Ooi Heng believed that the ball is firmly in Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's court following the announcement by Dewan Rakyat Speaker Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof that he had accepted a motion of no-confidence against him filed by former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Ong said that the motion of no-confidence is sure to be listed in the Dewan Rakyat's Order Paper during the one-day parliamentary sitting to be held on May 18.

However, the agenda of the Order Paper is to be decided by the Leader of the House, Muhyiddin himself.

Therefore, Mahathir's motion might not be debated in Parliament as this is a private member’s motion, Ong said when contacted by Malaysiakini.

Ong who is also the former chief coordinator of the Backbenchers Council (BBC) said that the chances of tabling a private member’s motion are very much dependent on the will of the Leader of the House.

According to Ong, two scenarios may unfold.

“Firstly, if Muhyiddin has no intention of dealing with this matter, then the government might end the parliamentary sitting right after they settled the matters of government.

“Secondly, if he is willing to bring up the issue, he can let the motion be tabled either before or after the government matters.

“Thus, the key issue now is whether or not Muhyiddin is willing to deal with his confidence (vote) in Parliament. If he doesn’t, he will definitely leave the motion aside,” said Ong.

According to the Dewan Rakyat’s standing orders, Parliament will prioritise government matters during the sitting before entering a non-government business.

Yesterday, de facto Parliament and law minister Takiyuddin Hassan also stressed that only government matters would be prioritised during the one-day sitting.

Ong, however, believed that Muhyiddin was ready to face the test as he was reported to be meeting the Umno and PAS presidents Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Abdul Hadi Awang soon.

Malaysiakini previously reported that the trio was expected to have a meeting soon to discuss several matters especially those regarding the parliamentary sitting.

“He chose to meet them before the sitting. I think he is ready to deal with it (motion). If he gets support from Umno and PAS, I think he will face it,” predicted Ong.

If the Dewan Rakyat were to vote down the motion of no-confidence, this would legitimise the position of Muhyiddin and his government and theoretically assure his tenure until the next general election, he added.

“But if he fails, he has to seek an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as soon as possible and tender his resignation.

“He can suggest dissolving the Parliament as well and this would lead to (an early) general election,” said Ong.

However, should the Agong disagree with the dissolution, then the opposition has the opportunity to form a government and nominate a candidate as the new prime minister, he said.

According to Ong, there are three entities that decide the formation of a new government - political parties, the monarch and the Dewan Rakyat.

Commenting on an emergency motion to decide whether to extend the one-day parliamentary sitting on May 18 to eight days, Ooi stressed that the matter has to be discussed on the same day.

“If everyone agrees on this, the Parliament sitting will last for two weeks, which is four days per week,” said the columnist for Malaysiakini's Chinese section.

In Ooi’s view, motions proposed by Mahathir, Batu Sapi MP Liew Vui Kong and Semporna MP Shafie Apdal were a carefully planned collective action.

“That is why the speaker handled the motions in one go and only accepted the no-confidence motion,” he explained.

Yesterday, Ariff announced that he has accepted a motion of no-confidence against Muhyiddin which was filed by Mahathir.

However, it is unknown when this motion would be tabled, if at all as the one-day May 18 sitting will only discuss government business.

Meanwhile, Ariff's deputy Mohd Rashid Hasnon told Malaysiakini that the no-confidence motion against Muhyiddin will not be debated in this sitting.

"The motion was accepted but (it won't be debated) on May 18," he said when contacted. -Mkini