Tuesday, April 29, 2008

PAS MAY PUT UP VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE AGAINST PM

PAS may put up vote of no confidence against PM
pix seqadar hiasan semata
[KL, March 28, 2007] THE opposition Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) may table a motion of no confidence against the Prime Minister when Parliament is convened on April 29, according to a senior PAS leader. And it appears the opposition Islamic party is counting on disgruntled members of the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition for the motion to succeed. But lawmakers from fellow opposition parties are more cautious about the move. A senior member of the Democratic Action Party (DAP) described such a motion as a 'serious matter' that needed to be studied, while another from Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) said his party would look into whether it was 'timely'.
PAS vice-president Husam Musa said many MPs were unhappy with the BN-led federal government following its dismal performance in the March 8 poll. This was why his Islamist party wanted a change in the country's leadership, Datuk Husam was quoted as saying in The Star newspaper yesterday (March 27, 2008 - ed.).
In the general election, the opposition won 82 of the 222 Parliament seats. PAS won 23 while its opposition allies, the DAP and PKR, secured 28 and 23 seats respectively. Even if all opposition MPs were to support the motion, they would be 30 votes short of passing it. So the opposition must rely on the possibility that some disgruntled BN MPs may absent themselves from the vote or, worse yet, defect to the other side.
Constitutional law expert Shad Faruqi said that, under the law, the king has two options once Parliament approves a motion of no confidence against a prime minister. One is for the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, as Malaysia's constitutional monarch is known, to appoint a new prime minister from among the MPs who have the support of the majority in Parliament. 'The other option is for the king to dissolve the Parliament and call for fresh elections,' the lecturer at the Mara University of Technology told The Straits Times.
A no-confidence motion has never been tabled in Malaysia.
source:
THE STRAITS TIMES via malaysia-today

Anwar: No motion against PM - TheStarOnline.tv, thestaronline
Parti Keadilan Rakyat Advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim says the opposition will not be pushing for a motion of no confidence against the Prime Minister any time soon.

By : B. Suresh Ram

KUALA LUMPUR: Can a vote of no-confidence be tabled against the primeminister or the government in the Dewan Rakyat? While former Dewan Rakyat secretary Datuk Abdullah Abdul Wahab said this was impossible, Universiti Teknologi Mara Professor of Law andlegal adviser Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi disagreed.

Abdullah said the standing orders in the Dewan Rakyat did not allow for such a motion. Even if an attempt was made, it would be "killed" by the Barisan Nasional-appointed speaker who had the right to determine, after consulting the government, if there was a need for such a motion. He said there were no provisions enabling the passing of such a motion in the house. "The situation has never arisen which warrants a need for a show of confidence in the government or leader of the house," Abdullah said.

Faruqi, however, felt that Article 43(4) of the Federal Constitution allowed for a vote of no-confidence against the prime minister and the government. He said there was, however, no specific procedure for such a move and that it could come in the form of a motion tabled by a member of parliament. "At the end of the day, it is up to the speaker to use his discretionary powers on whether to allow such a motion."

Both were commenting on the matter following statements by the opposition that its MPs would be moving a motion of no-confidence against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in the Dewan Rakyat. On March 28, Pas vice-president, Datuk Husam Musa, said the party may table a motion of no-confidence against Abdullah when parliament convenes on Tuesday. Two weeks later, de facto Parti Keadilan Rakyat leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim played down the issue by saying that Pakatan Rakyat would not move such a vote at this juncture. -- MORE

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