Getting Rid Of Mahathir What Actually Happens In Parliment If A Pm Gets Voted Out

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It hasn’t been a great time for Pakatan Harapan since they took over Putrajaya back in GE14 to say the least
Despite the grand expectations, so far they’ve managed to fulfill just 23 of the 555 promises that they put in their manifesto, with analysts already highlighting the disappointment people have towards the new govt
That being said, it’s still perhaps fair to say that many of us would be very, very surprised if Dr M and co don’t at the very least finish their term as government. However, that may actually be a reality… according to PAS anyway
“Dr Mahathir had indicated before about a ‘pengkhianatan’ (betrayal), and there may be a vote of no confidence against him. We are not new in politics. Our president (Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang) sensed something… that’s why we went to Dr Mahathir,” – Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan, PAS sec-gen, as quoted from The StarEssentially, some members of PAS as well as the social activist Mujahidin Zulkiffli claim that there’s set to be a vote of no-confidence against the Prime Minister put forward by those within Pakatan Harapan. Despite several top leaders of Harapan such as Lim Guan Eng and Mat Sabu coming out to deny the speculation of a no-confidence vote against Mahathir, their attempts certainly were not helped when banners calling for Dr M’s resignation and for Anwar to be PM appeared in Bangsar.Image from Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil’s FacebookThat brings us to the question: what would actually happen in the event of a vote of no-confidence against Mahathir?Anyone, including Harapan MPs, can call for a no-confidence vote against Dr MSo before we delve into the nitty gritty of it, it might be good to first give a quick idea of what a vote of no-confidence is. It basically happens when an MP puts out a statement asking other MPs in the Dewan to vote that they no longer have enough confidence in the Prime Minister to lead the country
Image from SomeecardsNow we by no means deal with Dewan Rakyat procedures and formalities on a day to day basis… so we asked someone who did. We spoke to Ooi Heng from the Institute of Political Studies for Change (KPRU), and here’s what he told us about how a vote of no confidence happens:An MP will submit a motion to the Speaker’s office about having a vote of no confidence against the Prime Minister.If approved by the Speaker, it will be listed in Parliament’s order paper as one of the things to discuss in the Dewan.Once it’s time to discuss it, all MPs in the Dewan will vote on whether or not they still believe in the Prime Minister to lead them.For this, they need an ABSOLUTE majority in Parlimen, which means at least 112 votes. This is different from a SIMPLE majority, which needs only more than half of the MPs present in Parlimen at the time.  Now in the event that an absolute majority of MPs votes that they don’t believe in the PM, Ooi Heng suggests that there would be three likely outcomes:The Prime Minister resigns and the governing coalition submits names to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to choose a new Prime Minister.The Prime Minister resigns and the Deputy Prime Minister becomes the Acting-PM.The Prime Minister refuses to resign, and instead Parliament is dissolved, which signals a general election.Image from The StarWhile Ooi Heng only talked about the procedure, if you apply it to the current govt, then you can probably guesstimate some names (coughAnwarcough) for the first outcome, while the second outcome would mean then in the event of a successful no-confidence vote, the current DPM Dr Wan Azizah may end up as the Acting-PM
That being said, there’s never been a successful vote of no-confidence against a current Prime Minister, altho there’s been attempts at it. One notable example of a proposed no-confidence motion against a sitting Prime Minister happened in 2008, just months after GE12, when then-Opposition leader Dr Wan Azizah submitted to the Speaker’s office a motion of no-confidence against the then-PM Abdullah Badawi in July of 2008. However, it failed to move on to the Dewan Rakyat, as the Speaker did not approve it
Abdullah Badawi’s reaction when asked about the no-confidence vote. Allegedly
That’s not the only time a vote of no-confidence was attempted tho. In 2015, the then-PM Najib Razak would also be subject to not one, but two attempts of a no-confidence vote. Originally, MP Hee Loy Sian called for it, citing that the Malaysian public has lost trust in the PM. However, Wan Azizah as the then-Opposition Leader would later resubmit the no-confidence vote to replace the first one, claiming that the new notice symbolically represents the whole opposition as she made the call
And yet, despite it making it slightly further than the Badawi attempt by actually getting onto the Parliament order paper (Parliament’s ‘things to discuss’ list) it was later then-Speaker Pandikar who would sorta shut it down by pushing it to the last thing to be discussed in the Dewan, and in the end, it’s kinda clear that he never got kicked out laa
We guess he also don’t jib a pak about no-confidence votes too
But right, if (and really if) a lot of MPs dun like the PM, a vote of no confidence isn’t the only way to get him or her out…Another way to ‘vote’ the PM out is by not giving him any moneyEvery year, the govt will have to submit the budget bill, which signals the way the govt is set rule for the next year. However, if the majority of MPs in the Dewan opt to reject the budget bill, it is technically another way to say that they do not have confidence in the government
Basically, this is one way to say ‘pak u’ to the govt as without approval of the supply bill, the govt basically has no funds to run the country. In the event of that happening, the PM would again find himself having to step down, and again the Agong will have to either decide on who to be the next Prime Minister
Supply bill defeated? No worries! Just head over to freemoney.myHowever, sometimes opposite of no-confidence motions can occur to, and actually has in Malaysian history too – the motion of confidence. Yes, it’s literally where MPs gather in the Dewan to say that they do have confidence in their leader.Visual representation of a successful confidence vote. Image from SaysThe story goes that back in the 1970s, when Tun Razak was still in charge, his Deputy Prime Minister at the time passed away. While many expected him to choose a new DPM from the MCA, Tun Razak surprised many by picking Hussein Onn as his deputy. A few years later, Hussein Onn would suddenly find himself as PM following Abdul Razak’s death, and ended up being not just the Prime Minister, but Finance Minister and Defence Ministeras well.Now he probably realised that after being a surprise choice in the first place to become the Deputy Prime Minister, giving himself multiple Cabinet positions after being Prime Minister miiiiiiight not sit well with some la. So he would apparently end up ‘legitimising’ his rule by getting a motion of confidence in him proposed by a senator and passedby the Parliament, which means that his role as leader has been validated
Original image from The Famous PeopleBut enough about the history; what about Dr M?It’s highly unlikely that there’ll be a no-confidence vote against MahathirGoing back to the current administration, despite the hooha over the possible no-confidence vote against Mahathir, it seems as tho many within Pakatan Harapan as well as several experts don’t think that it’ll happenanytime soon. The Star had interviewed political analyst Dr Muhammad Asri, who pointed out that despite the claims made by PAS, in reality in would be pretty tough to convince enough MPs to side with those who are seeking to propose the vote of no-confidence in Parliament:“It’s not easy because we have various coalitions and parties and the MPs are from various regions, namely the Peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak. Everyone you approach for support will make demands and seek guarantees in exchange for support,” – Dr Muhammad Asri Mohd Ali, Universiti Malaya political analyst,as quoted by The StarMeanwhile, as for Mahathir himself, he seems to be pretty chilled at the moment, shrugging off the claims of the no-confidence vote and instead stating that he’ll just wait and see if it happens or not.“I will wait and see if there is a vote of no-confidence. I will see if PAS will support me or not,” – Prime Minister Mahathir, as quoted by Straits TimesOkay maybe he won’t be thaaat relaxed waiting and seeing…In any case, it looks like it would be the same for us Malaysians, as all we can do is wait until the next parliamentary sitting on March 11, even if many of us are already on the edge of our seats amidst all the drama
-https://cilisos.my/

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