KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 26 – It is likely that Pakatan Harapan now has a two thirds majority in Parliament, and it will be unnecessary for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to table a motion for a vote of confidence when Parliament commences on Dec 19th, says Member of Parliament for Bukit Gelugor, Ramkarpal Singh.
In a statement today, Ramkarpal said it was clear now that Anwar enjoyed an overwhelming majority in excess of 140 seats.
“Historically, the requirement to have confidence has been guided by constitutional convention which is the case in the United Kingdom and other commonwealth countries.
“Boris Johnson survived a vote of confidence in June, 2022 by securing a majority of only 59 percent of Members of Parliament from his party for him to remain their leader while Theresa May fared better by securing 63 percent in 2018.
“In both cases, it was clear that Johnson and May did not have comfortable majorities and as such, there was a need to test their support by such confidence motions.”
No doubt, a vote of confidence ought to be encouraged when there are doubts as to whether a government has the majority in Parliament, for instance when Perikatan Nasional came into power after the Sheraton move.
In that instance, Muhyiddin Yassin ought to have done so as it was unclear if he had the support of at least 112 Members of Parliament and his failure to do so rightly drew considerable criticism in the circumstances, Ramkarpal said.
It is understandable for Anwar to have announced his intention to table a motion of confidence as it was made before Muhyiddin conceded that PH had the numbers on 25.11.2022.
With Muhyiddin’s said concession and confirmation that PN will provide a check and balance to the government by being in the opposition, the need for a vote of confidence by PH does not arise, he added.
–WE