MalayMail-Dec 19
The motion of confidence on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim passed via a voice vote today in the Dewan Rakyat. The debate on the motion saw the participation of 12 MPs, including Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) new Opposition leader, Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin. The session saw several heated exchanges between former allies-turned-political foes, notably on the issue of the legitimacy of the government and the memorandum of understanding (MoU) supporting Anwar recently signed by the five parties that make up the current unity government. PN MPs, led by PAS’ Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan, held a press conference later, during which they expressed their surprise over the absence of a voting process on Anwar. However, Takiyuddin said that the matter rests with the government MPs and not the Opposition bench. “So, in this matter, earlier the Dewan decided that this motion be passed, and we all heard that it was passed with a voice vote without votes. That is important. “Whether it is a simple majority, two-thirds majority, or anything else, this is what happened in the Dewan Rakyat today. It was found that support of the prime minister, out of 222 MPs, is not known. That is all. “We did not ask for voting, because we didn’t vote. Normally, if we want to know how many votes will be given, we would then ask for a bloc vote. We did not ask, but the other side also did not ask,” he said when asked why PN did not ask for a bloc vote on the motion. Last week, the MoU for the unity government was signed, paving the way for Anwar to establish supermajority support during the confidence vote. According to the MoU, all the signatory coalitions and parties must support Anwar in all matters of confidence and supply as well as those that could have a bearing on the legitimacy of his administration. Read more at: https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2022/12/19/motion-of-confidence-on-pm-anwar-passed-via-voice-vote/46101
