‘No-confidence motion should take precedence’
Published on: Tuesday, May 12, 2020
By: Mardinah Jikur
SANDAKAN: Batu Sapi Member of Parliament (MP) Datuk Liew Vui Keong (pic) says the motion of no-confidence in the Prime Minister to be tabled by Langkawi MP Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad should take precedence over all government business in Parliament.He said Malaysia practises the British Westminster model of governance.ADVERTISEMENT
“This entails that the executive (Government) must enjoy the confidence of the legislature (Parliament) in order to govern. If the Government fails to command majority support in Parliament, it has no authority from the people and cannot govern them.
“Therefore, votes of confidence or no-confidence are of utmost importance to determine if a government has the mandate of the people to govern.”
He added that in the United Kingdom, motions of confidence or no-confidence in the government are common – by established convention in the British Westminster model of governance, should a motion of no-confidence be tabled.
“Conventions hold the force of law in Malaysia by virtue of Article 160(1) of the Federal Constitution, whereby conventions are considered ‘law’ in Malaysia.ADVERTISEMENT
“Time must be allotted for the motion to be debated and voted upon by all MPs,” said Liew, who is former law minister under the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government.
“Should the ‘Perikatan Nasional’ government lack majority support in the Dewan Rakyat, it cannot form government and therefore cannot proceed with any government business in the House.
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“It runs contrary to common sense to allow a government to proceed with government business in the House without a substantial challenge to its legitimacy being first resolved.”
Liew added that although Standing Order 15 provisions that government business takes priority over all other business in the House, it is the Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat who wields the final say by way of his discretion on which business takes priority on the Dewan Rakyat’s Order Paper. Standing Order 15 is not an “open and shut” case.
“Therefore, I call upon the Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat to uphold this fundamental principle of the British Westminster model of governance and parliamentary democracy by allowing debate on the MP for Langkawi’s motion of no-confidence before any other business in the Dewan Rakyat on May 18,” he said.
“This is a real and substantial challenge to the Government’s mandate to govern and must be debated and resolved accordingly for once and for all in public interest,” he added.
Through a posting on Facebook earlier Monday, Liew also spoke on two other issues of national importance to all Malaysians.
Another issue, Liew stressed, is that his motion for Parliament to sit for more than one day must be debated on May 18.
“I had also earlier submitted a motion to suspend the Dewan Rakyat’s proceedings on May 18 to debate a matter of urgent public importance under Standing Order 18 in the Dewan Rakyat,” he said.
This motion was premised on four grounds:
(1). There was a motion of no-confidence in the Prime Minister, which had to be first resolved by Members of the House; (Rejected by the Speaker).
(2). There was a motion of confidence that the MP of Langkawi commands majority support in the House; (Rejected by the Speaker).
(3). The decision for the House to sit for only one-day conveyed by Clerk of the Lower House through a letter dated April 17 is contrary to Article 62(1)(4) of the Federal Constitution on parliamentary procedure which provisions that the House regulates its own procedure and is not subjected to any other rules, especially the Movement Control Orders; (Accepted by the Speaker).
(d) It is unreasonable for MPs from Sabah to travel all the way and undergo Covid-19 tests in Kuala Lumpur several days before, to merely have the House sit for one day.
The sitting should therefore be extended to a minimum of eight days; (Accepted by the Speaker)
“I therefore hope the Speaker allows this motion to be debated in the House on May 18,” Liew said.
The Constitution requires that Members of the House resolve for themselves matters such as the number of days the House shall sit.
“In this case, it is important that the House sits for more than a day to allow for debate and checks and balance on the Government during this Covid-19 pandemic.
“And I am confident that a majority of MPs agree with me on this and will debate to allow for the same,” he said.
“Now that we have these two motions, the question that has been raised by many is whether it will be debated on May 18 and be just placed in the Order Paper for the next sitting or placed at the bottom.”
Liew also spoke about Semporna MP and Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal’s motion of confidence in the Langkawi MP, which was in accordance with the Federal Constitution.
“I refer with disgust to former Chief Minister Datuk Yong Teck Lee’s statement in the Daily Express on May 11 titled ‘Sabah may pay price for plot’, says Yong,” he said.
Yong made some very serious and baseless allegations in his statement, including accusing the Sabah Government of plotting to topple the current Prime Minister.
“I think Yong who has never been an MP is ignorant of parliamentary proceeding that is practised in our jurisdiction.”
“He (Yong) has stood as a candidate in the 2010 by-election in Batu Sapi when the late Datuk Edmund Cheong passed away but he lost badly,” Liew said.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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