The statement by UMNO President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi that the opposition had breached the Memorandum of Understanding entered into with the government is nonsensical, or at the very least suggests that he does not understand the terms of the said MOU.
Zahid was reported by Malaysiakini as referring to Article 3 of the said MOU in support of his said view.
Communications and Multimedia Minister Annuar Musa was also reported by Malaysiakini as taking a similar view, saying that the MOU stipulates that Harapan will either support or abstain from voting on any motion tabled by the government, which it did not do in this case.
While I am not a fan of the MOU, it is necessary to set the record straight as to the opposition’s role in it and dispel the misconception that has arisen as a result of Zahid’s and Annuar’s misleading statements.
Articles 3.3(b) of the MOU clearly comes with an important caveat that the opposition agrees to support or abstain from voting on any government Bill only after the said Bill is negotiated and agreed upon by the opposition.
In other words, there must be consultation with the opposition first before the question of supporting or abstaining from voting on it arises.
It is obvious why this is the case – the MOU was never intended to result in the opposition being a rubber stamp of all government Bills as the role of the opposition as a check and balance of the government is, and always will be, paramount.
This means that it was always the intention of all parties to the MOU that the opposition can refuse to support a government Bill if it disagrees with the same after being properly consulted.
In the case of the SOSMA Bill which was defeated yesterday, DAP Secretary General Anthony Loke has said that the government did not consult the opposition before tabling it.
That being the case, the opposition was never under any obligation to support it.
In fact, I am sure that the opposition would have objected to it even if it was consulted beforehand as we have always been against SOSMA from the beginning due to its draconian nature.
Instead of pointing the finger at the opposition, Zahid should explain why he and other UMNO MPs such as Pekan MP Najib Tun Razak were not present in Parliament yesterday which contributed to the Bill being defeated, as this has given rise to speculation that the government does not enjoy their support.
The Rakyat have the right to know if they deliberately absented themselves from Parliament yesterday for an ulterior purpose, failing which such speculation will continue.