Dewan Rakyat speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia expressed strong disapproval of former Terengganu menteri besar Ahmad Said’s motion of no confidence against the state’s incumbent menteri besar which was tabled at the Terengganu state legislative assembly sitting yesterday.
Pandikar said that it did not even cross his mind that a no-confidence motion against either the prime minister or a menteri besar can be tabled in a “modern democratic country” like Malaysia without a notice.
“Tabling a no-confidence motion is like an ambush: you table such a motion when you notice that there are absentees from the other side.
“There’s no cheating and lies in a democracy. Everything must be transparent, there must be a notice and such,” said Pandikar in his speech before launching the Election Commission’s (EC) new building in Putrajaya today.
Poor Pandikar – it is embarrassing to be in a senior position and be exposed as so unqualified.
His remarks are akin to an engineer, who admits he has not come across Pythagoras’s theorem or a surgeon, who hasn’t heard of a haemorrhage.
A motion of no confidence is indeed an ambush and it is the established means by which modern democratic parliaments deal with failed leaders, who no longer command the respect of the majority of MPs.
Perhaps, given his novice level understanding of the job he is in, Pandikar should take a quick look at that helpful online aid Wikipedia? Quote:
“Motions of no confidence are a feature of the Westminster system of government that requires an executive to retain the confidence of the House of Commons. It is a fundamental principle of the British constitution that the Government must retain the confidence of the legislature as it is not possible for a Government to operate effectively without the support of the majority of the legislature….By convention a no confidence vote will take precedence over normal Parliamentary business for that day..”
This means that if someone from either side of the house tables such a motion on a certain day, then it is the Speaker’s duty to give it PRECEDENCE over all other business.
After all, what could be more important?