WILL the Perikatan Nasional (PN) MPs vote to support, abstain or oppose the vote of confidence in Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as the 10th Malaysian Prime Minister (PM)?
It will be asking the PN MPs to do a very tall job to put nation before party, coalition and self to support the vote of confidence in Anwar in Parliament tomorrow (Dec 19) to ensure that there is clean, transparent, responsible and stable political eco-system in Malaysia which is the PN manifesto for the 15th General Election (GE15).
But the person who unconstitutionally and illegally suspended Parliament in fear of a vote of confidence motion by using the pretext of the COVID-19 pandemic and who tried to save his “backdoor” premiership with a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) is the last person to talk about Anwar lacking confidence to gain a majority in Parliament on a vote of confidence motion.
At least, the first thing that Anwar is doing as the 10th PM is to seek a vote of confidence in Parliament, emulating the third PM Tun Hussein Onn in 1976.
In contrast, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin did everything possible to avoid a vote of confidence vote in Parliament to the extent of illegally and unconstitutionally suspending Parliament.
The first “backdoor” PM would have continued to suspend Parliament in August 2021 if not stopped by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Conference of Rulers, and he chose to resign instead of having to face a vote of confidence in Parliament.
Where was the Pagoh MP when Parliament was illegally and unconstitutionally suspended in 2021 but who now claimed that Malaysia is heading towards a dictatorship if there is a vote of confidence on the PM in Parliament tomorrow (Dec 19)?
The MP concerned was then enjoying the perks and privileges of a PM to bother about any vote of confidence in Parliament!
The least to expect of a respectable and honourable political coalition is to abstain in the vote of confidence in Parliament but this is an equally tall order.
The strength of the opposition of PN MPs to the vote of confidence motion in Parliament will be a reflection of the tenacity of efforts to create a Sheraton Move 2.0 scenario to topple the legitimate Anwar’s unity government to bring about a third “backdoor” government in Malaysian history.
There is no doubt that the PN leaders are doing their utmost best to bring about a Sheraton Move 2.0 and they are talking in terms of months instead of years.
That is why they are so dead set against the unity government and the second MOA which could not only usher in a period of political stability but ensure a five-year tenure for Anwar as PM and be the basis for Malaysia to stop its national decline and to become a world-class nation again before Malaysia’s Centennial. – Dec 18, 2022
Retired DAP supremo and veteran lawmaker Lim Kit Siang was the former MP for Iskandar Puteri.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
