KUALA LUMPUR – For now, there is no motion of confidence for newly minted Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob scheduled in the Order Paper for the Dewan Rakyat when it next reconvenes.
This is according to the parliamentary order of business issued to all MPs late last night, which also notified them of the one-week postponement of the sitting to September 13.
While the daily Order Paper can still be changed even up to the night before the sitting, the omission of the motion has opposition MPs scratching their heads, especially when this has been decreed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on several occasions.
DAP veteran and Iskandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siang said, considering current developments, the motion, by right, should be the first item of business after the royal address when the House reconvenes.
“A glaring omission is the absence of a confidence motion on the new prime minister in the parliamentary order of business,” he said in a brief statement today.
“In view of the political and constitutional circumstances in the appointment of Ismail Sabri as the ninth prime minister, a confidence motion on (him) should be the first item of parliamentary business on September 14.”
Speaking to The Vibes, PKR communications director and Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil said the order of business submitted to the MPs last night does not appear to be the final one, but could be a general notice to inform lawmakers of the coming proceeding.
“What Lim might be referring to is, if Parliament does not explicitly state its intention to move a motion of confidence in the order of business, it might be an early indicator that they don’t have the appetite or courage to do so.”
DAP’s Klang MP Charles Santiago similarly said that the confidence motion can still be included, even on the night before, but confirmed that this is not part of the original Order Paper sent to the MPs.
It is not uncommon for the Dewan Rakyat to include a last-minute motion to the Order Paper.
Previously, when Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was prime minister, Parliament had allocated September 6 for the royal address while the vote of confidence was set for September 7.
Late last night, Dewan Rakyat secretary Nizam Mydin Bacha Mydin had notified all MPs that the sitting has been pushed back to September 13, and will now end on October 12, but made no mention of the confidence vote for Ismail Sabri.
The reason for the postponement was not given, although this could be either due to Ismail Sabri undergoing self-quarantine after coming into close contact with a Covid-19 patient, or the fact that the new cabinet had just been sworn in yesterday, with little time to prepare for the Dewan Rakyat sitting.
In the new order of business sighted by The Vibes, the Agong is set to address both Houses of Parliament on September 13, with two weeks allocated for MPs to debate on the speech and for ministers to wind up.
Week three and four of the sitting will see the tabling and debating of the 12th Malaysia Plan, while the fifth and final week is allotted for other bills and government businesses. – The Vibes, August 31, 2021
