“One would expect him to act like a gentleman and uphold the spirit of the Federal Constitution,” said Dominic Puthucheary, who is a former one-term Barisan Nasional MP for Nibong Tebal.
He said Azhar must allow for the motion to take precedence over the budget vote after 25 opposition MPs had requested for the legitimacy of Muhyiddin to be tested first from the floor of the house.
Puthucheary said this in response to Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s stand that he would not attend the debate on the 2021 budget while the legality of the government had not been established.
In a letter to the Speaker, Tengku Razaleigh, who is one of the longest-serving MPs, told off Azhar for having made what he described as a misconceived suggestion to consult law minister Takiyuddin Hassan about tabling the motion of no confidence against the prime minister.
To discuss the budget without first establishing the legitimacy of the prime minister and his ministers is “to compromise on an important constitutional principle”, said Razaleigh, who is better known as Ku Li.
He added that such a compromise would have serious consequences on the upholding of the constitution and said it was a “possible use of political corruption to maintain power”.
“It is my considered view that ‘political corruption’ by its very nature can be described as the ‘worm in the bud’ that will destroy our constitutional system of democracy from within.
“The opinion in the public domain is that ‘political corruption’ and money is destroying the soil of our nation and our political system,” Razaleigh said.
He said since the legitimacy of the government had not been decided yet, he was bound by his conscience on the oath to faithfully discharge his duties to preserve, protect and defend the constitution.
Ku Li said the Dewan Rakyat was an autonomous and independent institution outside the control of the executive or any other authority.
“It is only in this way that it can genuinely represent the rakyat as intended by the constitution,” he said.
He added that to subject the motion to the consent of the law minister would nullify the purpose of Article 43 of the Federal Constitution.
The article calls for the prime minister to tender the resignation of the Cabinet if he ceases to command the confidence of the majority of the Dewan Rakyat, unless the Yang di-Pertuan Agong had consented to dissolve Parliament.
He said, therefore, the law minister is also subject to the motion of no confidence.
The speaker’s suggestion about consulting the law minister was brought up as a matter of procedure as parliamentary practice is for government business to take precedence over any other matters.
Razaleigh wrote to Azhar in September seeking a guarantee that the no-confidence motion would be raised at the next Dewan Rakyat meeting.
Azhar had replied that he was bound by the rules of the Dewan Rakyat. “Please negotiate with Takiyuddin to give priority to certain private motions,” Azhar had said.
Puthucheary said it was a constitutional convention that the legitimacy of the government had to be first determined before other business of the house was conducted.
“In our constitutional scheme, the King appoints the prime minister but it is the elected members who decide whether the government falls or remains by taking a vote.
“This is especially so when there is doubt whether Muhyiddin enjoys majority support from his party or coalition.”
Lawyer Syed Iskandar Syed Jaafar al-Mahdzar said Azhar had wide discretion in the conduct of business in the Dewan Rakyat and need not consult anyone.
“Therefore, it is entirely up to him to reconsider his earlier decision on whether to allow for a motion of no confidence to be debated and a vote to be taken,” he said.
Syed Iskandar said the standing orders are a subsidiary legislation and made pursuant to the constitution.
Other constitutional lawyers have also said Parliament could not be subservient to the executive when the democratic system under the constitution requires the executive to be answerable to the legislature.