KUALA LUMPUR: Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Mulia Amin wants a list of members of Parliament who are willing to support a motion of no confidence against the Prime Minister before he allows the matter to be debated.
“At the moment, I am still waiting for their list. I am aware that they have 89 MPs and this has not changed,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby yesterday.
“If they can give me a list, say of more than 90 or 100 names, then I can pressure the Government that it must be debated.”
Barisan Nasional currently has 133 MPs.
Pandikar cited the case in Sabah where a list signed by a majority of the assemblymen was taken as an indication that the then chief minister Tan Sri Pairin Kitingan had lost the confidence of the legislative assembly.
He added that Pairin noticed the list and took it to the Yang Dipertua of Sabah to seek a dissolution of the State Legislative Assembly.
“However, the Yang Dipertua decided that there was no need to dissolve the assembly as it reflected the results of the election,” he said.
“The Yang Dipertua instead appointed a new chief minister from among the Barisan Nasional assemblymen.”
Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), headed by Pairin, had won the state election in 1994 and formed the state government by a majority of 32 seats against Barisan’s 28.
However, there were several defections to the Barisan camp, resulting in Pairin stepping down.
Pandikar noted this might not be possible in Dewan Rakyat as the split between PAS and Parti Amanah had further eroded the Opposition’s ability to produce such a list.
Seven out of the 21 PAS MPs recently broke away to form their own party.
In reality, Pandikar said that Barisan with its 133 MPs would still command the majority in the House.
He said another manner of ousting the Prime Minister was by defeating the Budget when it was tabled.
“It is not necessary that a vote of no confidence must be done by way of a motion. It could come orally if the Budget is defeated as this would be akin to a vote of no confidence,” he said.
Opposition leader Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail had said on Monday that Pakatan would be filing a notice to Parliament on the no-confidence motion against Najib later this week.
