KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA — No mention of confidence motion was made in Parliament on Monday (13 Sep) as the King is “satisfied” with the majority support given by 114 Members of Parliament (MPs) to newly appointed Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
During his opening royal address at the fourth session of the 14th Parliament sitting, Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah stated that the appointment was made in line with constitutional provisions and the statutory declarations of the 114 MPs.
“I am satisfied that the declarations were willingly made and without any coercion. This number represents a sufficient majority to form the government,” said His Majesty.
“Thus, in line with Articles 40(2)(A) and 43(2)(a) of the Federal Constitution, I consented to the appointment of Ismail Sabri as the ninth Prime Minister,” the King said.
The King, however, did not state whether the new PM needs to prove having said majority support.
The King had earlier decreed, according to a palace statement, that Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri should “as possible table a confidence motion” to “affirm that he has the confidence of the majority”.
De facto law minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar on 7 Sep later said that the King had given consent to the government to do away with the confidence vote in Parliament.
The minister himself opined that a confidence vote was not needed at that point, given the short period of time between the King’s appointment of Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri as PM and the detailed process in which His Majesty had verified the MPs’ support.
“In such a short period, I don’t see how (the MPs) can change their stance, and based on this, the King has consented to not having the confidence motion,” said Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi.
Attorney-General Tan Sri Idrus Harun held a similar view, saying that if the appointment of a new prime minister “still needs validation by any party besides His Majesty, this would mean His Majesty’s absolute power can be overruled by other parties”.
Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri came under fire recently from opposition politician Lim Kit Siang for disregarding the need for a confidence vote in Parliament.
The former Democratic Action Party secretary-general on 4 Sep highlighted that both the third Prime Minister, Hussein Onn, and the fifth Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi sought a vote of confidence from the majority of MPs as part of their first moves in Parliament.
“Why is Ismail Sabri afraid to prove that he has the confidence of the majority of MPs when Parliament meets on September 14, 2021?
“Is Ismail Sabri afraid that his majority of 114 MPs has disappeared in less than a month and that he could not get a majority of at least 111 Members of Parliament to vote in support of a vote of confidence in him as Prime Minister when Parliament meets on Sep 14?” Mr Lim questioned.
In a later statement on 6 Sep, Mr Lim reiterated his criticism of the new PM, stating that the latter “has changed from enhancing to jeopardising the possibility of a political breakthrough in Parliament”.
The breakthrough, he said, could take place in the form of a “confidence-supply-reform accord” between the government and the opposition, ushering a political ceasefire for the next 12 to 18 months until the next General Election.
This is so that “everyone, whether government, opposition or the people, can focus single-mindedly on winning the losing war against the COVID-19 pandemic while carrying out parliamentary and institutional reforms”, Mr Lim said.
“The Yang di-Pertuan Agong had decreed on August 18 that the new prime minister must seek a vote of confidence in Parliament as soon as possible to determine his legitimacy, that MPs should work together to focus on the COVID-19 response and economic recovery, and that ‘the winner does not win everything while the loser does not lose everything’.
“It would be most unfortunate that it is the new Prime Minister who is jeopardising the government and the opposition reaching a confidence-supply-reform understanding in accordance with the decree of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong,” he added.
The current parliamentary session will be held from Monday to Thursday, starting today until 12 Oct.
