Only Najib and his Cabinet will fall in no-confidence vote, say lawyers
(The Malaysian Insider) – Only the Cabinet, and not the Barisan Nasional (BN) government, will fall in the event that a no-confidence vote against Datuk Seri Najib Razak succeeds, constitutional lawyers say.
Cabinet members will have to step down together with the prime minister upon the king accepting his resignation, or if he refuses to dissolve Parliament.
This will also be the case if the majority of legislators do not pass the budget.
Lawyer Philip Koh Tong Ngee said a political chief executive (prime minister, menteri besar or chief minister) could be voted out in a no-confidence vote or when the budget was not approved.
“In such scenario, (prime minister, menteri besar or chief minister) must report to the head of state. He can either request the house to be dissolved to hold a fresh election or tender his resignation,” he told The Malaysian Insider.
Koh said should the request be refused, the prime minister must tender his resignation so that the head of state can appoint the replacement. Cabinet members will go along with the outgoing prime minister, he added.
Koh had been a counsel in the legal battle between PAS’s Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin in the dispute with BN’s Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir, over who the rightful Perak menteri besar was following the ruling coalition’s takeover of the state from the opposition in 2009.
On Tuesday, former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad urged BN lawmakers to join forces with the opposition to support a vote of no confidence against the prime minister.
Dr Mahathir had said that BN would still remain in power, since it had the majority in the Dewan Rakyat.
