Agong satisfied with PM’s majority support, no mention of confidence motion

(NST) Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah is satisfied with the 114 majority support expressed by Members of Parliament for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

In his speech when opening the First Meeting of the Fourth Term of the 14th Parliament, the King said he was confident all 114 MPs had given their support to Ismail Sabri willingly.

Al-Sultan Abdullah, however, made no mention if Ismail Sabri needs to prove his majority in Parliament as decreed by him last month.

He said in line with the concepts of constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, all 220 parliamentarians were given the chance to name an MP to be the next Prime Minister through statutory declarations (SDs).

“On August 19, 2021, after meeting all 114 members of Dewan Rakyat, I was satisfied that the confidence given to the Bera MP (Ismail Sabri) was done willingly by them (MPs) without any force.

“This amount of majority is sufficient to form a government.

“Thus, in line with Articles 40(2)(a) and 43(2)(a) of the Federal Constitution, I consented to the appointment of Ismail Sabri as the ninth Prime Minister,” he said.

On Aug 16, the country witnessed the change of premiership and government for the second time during the current Covid-19 pandemic.

Former Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin tendered his resignation after losing the majority support in the Dewan Rakyat.

“I would like to express my appreciation to Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, the eighth Prime Minister of Malaysia and (his) cabinet ministers who led the country’s administration in overcoming the dangers and challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.

This parliamentary session is the first under the government led by Ismail Sabri.

Based on the calendar of the Dewan Rakyat meeting, this session will be for 17 days until Oct 12 while the Dewan Negara will sit from October 4 to 26.