Speaker verifies letter from Shafie proposing motion of confidence for Dr M

(MMO) – Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Mohamad Ariff M Yusof confirmed today that his office has received a letter from Semporna MP Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal seeking a motion of confidence on Langkawi MP Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad when Parliament reconvenes.

Mohamad Ariff confirmed the letter when contacted by Malay Mail.

“Yes, authentic,” he said when asked to verify the letter.

“Wait for a full press statement from the office of the Dewan Rakyat Secretary,” Mohamad Ariff added.

According to the letter dated May 1 that Malay Mail sighted, Shafie notified the Speaker of his intention to table the motion in order to demonstrate that the former prime minister still commanded majority support in the Dewan Rakyat.

Shafie, who is also the chief minister of Sabah, asserted in the same letter that his motion in no way diminished the constitutional authority of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to appoint a prime minister from among the country’s federal lawmakers.

When he was asked about the letter earlier today in Beluran, Sabah, Shafie declined to confirm the matter.

Parliament will convene for the first time this year on May 18.

However, the government has truncated the meeting that was already delayed from its original date in March to just a single day, citing the Covid-19 pandemic as the reason.

The March meeting was postponed after Dr Mahathir resigned as the prime minister, eventually leading to the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government.

Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was sworn in as the new prime minister heading the Perikatan Nasional administration despite assertions from Dr Mahathir’s camp that the latter still had the support to be reappointed.

Neither Muhyiddin nor Dr Mahathir has publicly demonstrated that either commanded the majority support needed to be the prime minister.