KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 14 — In what is seen as a setback to Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s already razor-thin Parliamentary majority, Gua Musang MP Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah confirmed today he will not be voting for the third reading of the Budget 2021 Bill tomorrow.
In a surprise joint press conference hosted with former rival Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the veteran Umno leader better known as Ku Li affirmed this when asked if he would be voting against the government.
“No, I won’t be voting for the Budget,” he replied briefly.
When asked whether his presence with Dr Mahathir was him formally announcing his cooperation with the Opposition which was against the government that Umno is part of, Ku Li merely said he wanted to highlight the illegitimacy of the current Perikatan Nasional government.
“I am here, sharing a platform with [Dr Mahathir] purely because I want to make sure we have a legitimate government and the government we have today is not legitimate and a PM that is not legitimate,” he said.
Ku Li also maintained that he will not be participating in the debates, a position which he had made known previously whereby he would be abstaining from debating as long as the legitimacy of Muhyiddin and his Cabinet is not tested.
Muhyiddin’s majority has never been officially established but is placed at 113 lawmakers from the 222-seat Parliament or just over the absolute minimum of 112 needed for a simple majority.
By convention, a rejection of the federal Budget is considered a successful vote of no-confidence against the ruling party and should be met by the resignation of the entire Cabinet.
Earlier today, Dr Mahathir and the Umno veteran MP known as Ku Li confirmed speculations that they are joining forces after a long rivalry, putting them aside to take on Muhyiddin’s Perikatan government.
They had expressed their intention to bring Malaysia back to being an Asian tiger in light of the current politicking with the support of MPs, with Dr Mahathir also alluding that Muhyiddin’s government might lose the budget vote scheduled to take place in the Dewan Rakyat tomorrow.