PN accuses govt of deferring citizenship bill to save face

 

The government deferred debating and voting for the citizenship amendment bill because it was not confident of getting two-thirds support, Perikatan Nasional claimed today.

PN chief whip Takiyuddin Hassan said the number of MPs who attended the Dewan Rakyat sitting on Wednesday - when Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail tabled the bill - showed the government was short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass the amendment.

This, he alleged, could be disastrous to the current administration as it cannot afford to lose at the voting stage if it had gone through then.

"Besides facing problems in getting the bill passed due to lack of support, the government's failure in this matter would also be seen as a vote of no confidence to the prime minister and his administration.

"Because by convention, as practised in the United Kingdom, a government is considered to have lost the confidence of the Dewan Rakyat if it fails to get enough votes for its major agendas like the royal decree or budget bill," he said in a statement today.

On Monday, Saifuddin tabled the first reading of the bill and said the second and third reading will also be presented in the same Parliamentary session, which was concluded on Wednesday.

Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail

However, after tabling the bill for its second reading on Wednesday evening, the Dewan Rakyat session was adjourned.

This means debate on the citizenship laws was deferred to the next Dewan Rakyat sitting, which will commence in late June.

According to Takiyuddin, who is also Kota Bharu MP, Parliament records showed that only 211 MPs had attended the March 27 sitting, of which, 145 of them are supporters of the government.

This means the government was three MPs short of the minimum votes needed to pass the constitutional amendment bill, he added.

‘Deceitful’ Saifuddin should quit

Training his gun at Saifuddin, the PAS leader regarded the minister as being dishonest, weak and deceitful by deferring the debate and voting for the bill.

Takyuddin also urged the government to re-table the bill and called for Saifuddin’s resignation.

"PN believes the government had dishonestly and recklessly abused Dewan Rakyat's standing order without providing a proper explanation.

"Worse, the minister then came up with a weak and deceitful excuse to save the situation and cover the government's failure,” he added. - Mkini