Senator Alan Ling
MIRI (Aug 5): DAP Sarawak has urged Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to convene a Parliament sitting immediately for a confidence vote to determine if he has the majority support to continue as prime minister.
Its secretary Senator Alan Ling, who is also Pakatan Harapan Sarawak secretary, said the matter was of interest to all Malaysians, including Muhyiddin’s own cabinet members.
“If he is so confident, he can do it (parliament vote of confidence) tomorrow or the next day as we are all ready, and the whole of Malaysia is ready,” he said.
Ling said this in response to the Muhyiddin’s announcement yesterday that he was willing to put the issue of legitimacy to a vote in parliament in September after eight Umno MPs withdrew their support for him
Ling accused Muhyiddin of trying to buy time to shore up support as he had lost the backing of the majority of MPs although Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob had earlier on said that 40 Umno MPs still supported the premier.
“By simple mathematics, you will know that minus the eight Umno MPs who withdrew their support, he has only 103 MPs on his side and has lost the support of the majority,” he said.
Ling questioned Muhyiddin’s televised claim that he had shown to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong statutory declarations from MPs in support of him to continue as prime minister.
“Show us the numbers as the only decent thing to do is to put it to vote in parliament immediately tomorrow or day after tomorrow instead of delaying it for about 30 days where anything can happen in his hope of staying in power,” he said.
Ling said the five-day special parliamentary sitting was abruptly aborted last Friday on grounds of Covid-19 infections, saying it was to avoid a vote of no-confidence against Muhyiddin.
The sitting was called after the Yang di-Pertuan Agong decreed that the six Emergency Ordinances declared in January this year are to be debated in parliament.
The government dropped a bombshell when de facto law minister Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan announced in parliament that the ordinances were already revoked on July 21, but Istana Negara later issued a statement denying the King’s assent to revocation.
Ling said Muhyiddin had lost the support of the majority of MPs before the declaration of the Emergency early this year but shut down parliament to avoid a no-confidence vote which was again averted when the special five-day sitting was held.
DAP’s Sibu MP Oscar Ling also said Muhyiddin should convene parliament session as soon as possible.
Oscar Ling
“If he claims he has the numbers and he can still command the majority support from the Members of Parliament, why wait till September? Reconvene the parliamentary session now to prove your worth,” he said.
“Anything can happen from now until September and while the government waits to prove its legitimacy, it can also use the period to buy more time for Perikatan Nasional (PN) to get more support.”
Ling said there should not be any delay to postpone the vote of confidence to September as it would create uncertainty during this one-month period.
He said it will also adversely affect the economy and the progress of the country’s fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Reconvene the parliamentary session immediately and get the things done once and for all to determine your support.”