Loke assures Harapan support for constitutional amendment on royals

PARLIAMENT | Newly minted DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke has assured that Pakatan Harapan will support a constitutional amendment exempting royals from automatic voter registration today.

This is after the government failed yesterday to pass a bill to extend detention without trial under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma).

Speaking in the Dewan Rakyat, Loke (Harapan-Seremban) assured that the government will have enough support to get the two-thirds majority needed to pass the constitutional amendment.

The amendment will exempt sultans, their spouses, and their heirs from automatic voter registration.

"We want the Agong and sultans to be above politics... it also not good for their identity cards to be displayed to the public," Loke said.

He added that the bill had been discussed and agreed to by Harapan prior to it being tabled, in line with its memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Putrajaya.

Defeating Sosma bill

This contrasts with the Sosma bill, which Harapan was not consulted on.

Umno is accusing Harapan of violating the MOU by defeating the Sosma bill yesterday.

This is despite the MOU only requiring Harapan support or abstaining on budget bills, votes of confidence, or bills that have been brought into consultation with the opposition coalition.

The MOU also allowed Harapan to continue carrying out its functions as a check and balance to the government.

Citing these provisions, Loke said yesterday's vote did not mean that Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob had lost confidence of the Dewan Rakyat as purported by Umno.

Absent from the vote

The government lost the vote yesterday 84-86.

Key Umno leaders, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (BN-Bagan Datuk), Najib Abdul Razak (BN-Pekan), and Ahmad Maslan (BN-Pontian) were among those absent from the vote.

Meanwhile, at least three government MPs, including Communications and Multimedia Minister Annuar Musa were reportedly disqualified from voting for being late to the vote. - Mkini