Parliament lacks mechanism for no-confidence vote against Najib, Dr M told
(Malay Mail Online) – Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed’s proposal to oust Datuk Seri Najib Razak through Parliament is doomed to fail because the system currently does not allow a no-confidence vote against an individual, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz has said.
The former de facto law minister also said that BN’s chief whip — Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi — will not allow such a move to take place and will ensure all BN MPs toe the line.
“We currently do not have a way in our parliamentary system to push a vote of no-confidence against a person, an individual. The only way to show no confidence is to try and ambush Bills which are tabled in the Dewan Rakyat,” he told Malay Mail Online in an interview yesterday evening.
“You cannot have a Bill to say that a motion will be presented to discuss a vote of no-confidence. It does not work like that,” Nazri explained.
“With our system it is an act in futility because the whip will be used. No MPs from BN will oppose the whip.
“So why waste time? I can tell Tun Dr Mahathir straight to the face it is not going to happen, don’t waste your time,” the tourism minister added.
Dr Mahathir has called on lawmakers from BN to take part in a vote of no-confidence in the Dewan Rakyat against Najib, but added that the government should remain in the 13-party coalition’s hands afterwards.
In an unprecedented move over the weekend, Dr Mahathir joined the Bersih 4 rally here that is demanding the resignation of Najib as prime minister.
Dr Mahathir, who was prime minister from 1981 to 2003, was notorious for clamping down on any demonstration against the government.
He had previously insisted that he disagrees with using public rallies as there are various other ways to pressure a government that allegedly abuses its power, such as lodging police reports in the hope that the public prosecutor launches court action against the perpetrators.
But the 90-year-old has since reversed his stand. In recent days and even during Bersih 4, Dr Mahathir said the people should now rally as a “last option” to reclaim their government.
He claimed that the current leadership had dismantled government institutions meant to protect the people’s rights, especially in the way the the various investigations on state-owned 1Malaysia Development Berhad and the RM2.6 billion in donations made to Najib’s private bank accounts have been handled.
“So long as Najib is in power the economy will deteriorate, the value of the ringgit will fall, stocks will fall, cost of living increases due to GST (Good and Services Tax), national debt grows because we cannot pay, unemployment increases, billions in the rakyat’s people is abused.
“This is the fate that awaits Malaysia because of Najib,” Dr Mahathir claimed in his latest blog posting.
