Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia had said that there is no provision in the Standing Order for motion of confidence against the Prime Minister and therefore it will not be allowed in the coming parliament sitting.
However, the Honourable Speaker should note that Westminster convention does allow for a motion of confidence to be tabled in the Parliament.
According to Erskine May’s Treatise on the Law, Privileges, Proceedings and Usage of Parliament (Erskine May), the standard authority on such matters in Westminster system,
“By established convention, the Government always accedes to the demand from the Leader of the Opposition to allot a day for the discussion of a motion tabled by the Official Opposition which, in the Government’s view would have the effect of testing the confidence of the House.”
And the reason for such practice of granting a motion of conference is also given by the Erskine May, as being “founded on the recognised position of the Opposition as a potential government, which guarantees the legitimacy of such an interruption of the normal course of business.”
(Source: p 344, Erskine May, 24th Edition, 2011)
Thus unless the Speaker rejects firstly the accepted century-and-half old Erskine May convention and secondly the established principle of democracy where the Opposition is indeed a government in waiting, he must allow for such motion of confidence to be tabled.
If Erskine May’s convention fails, MPs should reject PM’s Budget
Failing which, I call upon all conscientious Members of Parliament from both sides of the aisle to reject the Prime Minister’s Budget to be tabled in the next sitting on 23 October 2015 as a show of no-confidence in his ability to manage the finances of our country but more importantly in his failed leadership.
By dragging his feet on the 1MDB and other scandals, Prime Minister Najib has caused a crisis of confidence and credibility against Malaysia. This was admitted by Bank Negara’s International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance in a recent report which attributed the crisis of confidence to poor governance, mismanagement, the ongoing financial scandals, the poor handling of these issues and the absence of checks and balances. Within the international community, organisations such as Transparency International has expressed their stance that the RM2.6 billion donation to Najib’s personal bank accounts as having the elements of a grand corruption and have called the government to come clean on the issue.
Next Parliament sitting is litmus test for each MP
Thus, it is the duty of all MPs in the upcoming sitting to decide whether to express a clear no-confidence against the Prime Minister or to allow him to further drag Malaysia deeper into the crisis of confidence we are already facing. This sitting therefore will be the litmus test of the integrity and conscience of each MP towards their duty to the people and our country.