A no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak cannot be tabled in Parliament as he still commands the majority support, said Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.
The newly-appointed minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said such a motion cannot simply be brought in the country’s system of administration.
“We do not follow such a process. Malaysia cannot have such vote,” she told reporters at the Malaysia Film Expo at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) today.
Azalina said those who wanted to table such a motion needed to have the same numbers that Najib commands in the Dewan Rakyat.
“You need to get the majority support, as of now, the majority is with the prime minister,” she said.
Currently Barisan Nasional (BN) has 132 seats in the 222-seat Parliament and the balance is being held by the opposition.
The opposition has voiced its intention to table a no-confidence motion against Najib when Parliament reconvenes in October due to scandals that have plagued the prime minister’s leadership.
Najib is currently under fire for the scandal surrounding his brainchild, state investment vehicle 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) as well as the RM2.6 billion “donation” from an unknown Middle Eastern donor into his personal accounts ahead of the 2013 general election.
A female member of the Malaysian Parliament, who has bloomed overnight from well merited obscurity, marked her new prominence by making one of the most stupid public statements ever made by a Minister in Malaysia.
She said motions of “no confidence” in the Government cannot be tabled in Parliament unless the member tabling them has a parliamentary majority!
If he or she had that majority there would be no need for such a motion! The administration could simply be voted out by its own party members!
The whole point behind parliamentary democracy is that Parliament is supreme because it has been elected by the people to govern in their best interests. What Parliament says goes. Full stop.
When an administration has lost the confidence of the whole of Parliament it either resigns voluntarily or is voted out of office through the passage of a motion of no confidence. It’s that simple.
UMNO recognised this truth and tried to circumvent by appointing the Speaker, who ought to be appointed by the members of Parliament. His job for the PM is to prevent such dangerous motions from being debated – members should vote to change him!
These days we get rid of discredited politicians and discredited parties at the ballot box. Motions of “no confidence” are the tool to get rid of a rotten administration before a general election has to be called and they must be debated when tabled.
To deny this right is to deny parliamentary democracy. Which is exactly what Najib and his newly appointed junior puppets are doing!