All eyes on Anwar’s confidence vote and new Speaker

 

At his first press conference as prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim declared that one of the first things he will do is to test his majority in Parliament. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: The Dewan Rakyat convenes for the first time since the 15th general election led to Malaysia’s first hung Parliament after no single coalition or party winning a simple majority to form the government.

A month later, the air of uncertainty appears to have dissipated for good.

In the days that followed the Nov 19 polls, Anwar Ibrahim, whose coalition Pakatan Harapan (PH) won the most seats, was appointed prime minister.

At his first press conference, Anwar declared that one of the first orders of parliamentary business would be to test his majority, built on support from several coalitions, minor parties and independents.

Electoral reform group Bersih had welcomed Anwar’s move to prove his majority in the Dewan Rakyat as it would set a precedent following the Sheraton Move of 2020, which led to the fall of the PH government after 22 months in Putrajaya.

Bersih chairman Thomas Fann said a confirmatory vote of confidence would put to rest any doubt people may have on the legitimacy of Anwar’s new government.

Political analyst Awang Azman Pawi of Universiti Malaya said the prime minister was likely to win the confidence vote as his appointment had been endorsed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Conference of Rulers.

MPs backing his unity government were unlikely to turn against the King’s decision, he said.

Anwar has since said he enjoys close to two thirds majority support in the lower house, and on Friday he appeared to have cemented his support with the signing of a memorandum of understanding between parties in the government.

Among the other important matters for the new parliamentary meeting are the election of a new Dewan Rakyat Speaker, which is the first item on the agenda, and the vote on appointing the new deputy speakers.

It will be followed by a procedural motion for the inspector-general of police to ensure MPs are not hindered from going to and from Parliament as well as other government bills and businesses.

Moving forward, the government’s national budget for the new year will be greatly anticipated with Anwar, who is also finance minister, leading the task to draft it.

In October, then finance minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz tabled a budget of RM372.3 billion for 2023 but Parliament was dissolved before it could be approved.

The Center for Market Education had said there were too many ad hoc goodies in the budget, questioning how Putrajaya planned to deal with its high operational expenditures.

The government will table its emoluments budget in the coming Parliament sitting beginning today, before the full budget is tabled early next year.

The Dewan Rakyat will convene for two days from today. - FMT