KUALA LUMPUR, May 8 — Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof said today he has accepted an application for a motion to be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat to determine that Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin does not command the confidence of the majority of the house.
He said Langkawi MP and former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had made the application under Standing Order 27 (3) which pertains to the required number of days’ notice.
After studying the application based on the explanation presented, he decided to accept the application for the motion to be tabled at the upcoming sitting of the Dewan Rakyat, he said in a press statement today.
The Dewan Rakyat is scheduled to sit for one day on May 18. The house was originally scheduled to sit from March 9 to April 16 but this was postponed to May 18 to June 23 following a change of government which saw Pagoh MP Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin being appointed the prime minister.
The government later decided to hold a one-day sitting, on May 18, in view of the movement control order (MCO) that was imposed on March 18 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Bernama attempted to contact the Speaker for clarification over the acceptance of the application for the motion to be brought to the Dewan Rakyat, at May 18 sitting or later, but was not successful.
Mohamad Ariff rejected another application brought by Dr Mahathir, under Standing Order 4, for the existing Speaker to be retained until the dissolution of the house, saying it did not comply with the Standing Orders.
Mohamad Ariff said that since April 17 when the notice was issued for the First Meeting of the Third Session of the Dewan Rakyat, he had received four applications on motions from MPs, including the ones from Dr Mahathir.
Batu Sapi MP Datuk Liew Vui Keong had made an application under Standing Order 18 for motions to determine that Muhyiddin does not command the confidence of the Dewan Rakyat; that Dr Mahathir has the confidence of the majority of MPs; that the one-day sitting of the Dewan Rakyat is contrary to the Federal Constitution and that the Dewan Rakyat meeting should be extended to eight days.
“On the basis of the explanations that have been presented, I have decided to reject part of the application on the basis that there is no necessity to expedite the matter and decided to accept part of the application on the basis that it is a specific matter of public interest and urgent and can be brought to the house,” Mohamad Ariff said.
An application for a motion from Semporna MP and Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, among others, seeking to determine that Dr Mahathir commands the confidence of the majority of the MPs was rejected as it did not comply with Article 43 of the Federal Constitution.
“As the Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat, I have to study and ensure that all the applications for motions are submitted in compliance with the provisions of the Standing Orders because, in my opinion, this is part of upholding of the rule of law.
“In this regard, any consideration and decision made by the Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat should be fair and just and uphold the integrity of the Dewan Rakyat and Parliament,” he said.
In the same statement, Mohamad Ariff announced that the First Meeting of the Third Session of the 14th Parliament will take place for one day, on May 18.
— Bernama
