This is not a Parliament sitting - Dr M on single agenda on May 18

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has questioned the legality of the one-day Parliament sitting on May 18, now that it will only have the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s opening address on the agenda.

“So what is this sitting? Only for us to listen to the Agong’s speech? This is not a Parliament sitting, and we have been delaying the sitting.

“When we asked for eight days (for the sitting), also it wasn’t allowed, and if we were to have a formal sitting after 60 days, I consider the appointment of this government not to be in line with the law.

“It is up to the legal experts to say whether this one-day sitting is truly a Parliament sitting according to the rules. That is what I wanted to explain,” Mahathir said in a video live-streamed on Facebook tonight.

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof had issued a statement earlier today saying that he had received a letter from Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin in his capacity as Leader of the House saying that due to the continuing Covid-19 outbreak in the country, the Dewan Rakyat will only convene for the Agong’s opening speech at 10am and that the sitting would end immediately after that.

This effectively slams the door shut on Mahathir’s no-confidence motion against Muhyiddin, which had been accepted by the speaker previously.

In the video tonight, Mahathir said usually after the Agong’s speech, which he described as a speech delivered on behalf of the government, it will be debated in the august House and voted on.

However, now that will not occur. As such, the Langkawi MP said it does not fulfil the conditions of a Dewan Rakyat sitting.

“I have waited to be given a chance to speak, to support my motion of a vote of no-confidence against Muhyiddin because, at that time, I will explain my reasons for bringing that motion.

“But it seems there is an attempt to stop me from speaking. Let alone as a member of the public, but as an MP, I also cannot speak in the Dewan Rakyat.

“So what sort of government is this, where the MPs cannot speak,” Mahathir said.

He then made his arguments for his motion of no-confidence, one of which is to question whether Muhyiddin (photo) truly had the support of the majority when he was sworn in as prime minister on March 1, 2020.

“Of course now he has the majority. He has offered so many positions to my supporters as well, but at the material time when he was sworn in, can he prove he had the majority, seeing as we had 114 MPs who have signed their support for another candidate,” he said.

According to the constitution, the Agong can appoint someone who he believes has the support of a majority of representatives in the Dewan Rakyat, Mahathir explained.

Whether Muhyiddin truly has the majority support can be decided when Parliament convenes for a sitting, but now the House is not allowed to convene, he added.

“This means that actually, there is (not enough) support for Muhyiddin as the prime minister because the Dewan Rakyat cannot convene to decide whether or not it is true he had the majority on the day he took the oath (as a prime minister),” he said.

Lawyer Rafique Rashid Ali agreed with Mahathir’s assessment that Muhyiddin is deemed to not have the majority support by not convening Parliament.

“The above is correct in law. We follow the Westminster model. The government command the confidence (of the majority).

“By averting sitting to face the test, the prime minister is deemed not to have majority support,” Rafique told Malaysiakini.

May 18 marks the first Dewan Rakyat sitting since the “Sheraton Move” political coup triggered a change in government with the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan administration led by Mahathir. - Mkini