KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 — Gelang Patah MP Lim Kit Siang has asked if Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin will follow the example set by Malaysia’s third prime minister Tun Hussein Onn and convene an emergency Parliament meeting to secure a vote of confidence.
The DAP veteran added that postponing the scheduled meeting from March 9 to May 18 could be seen as a sign that the Pagoh lawmaker does not have the majority support of MPs to be a legitimate prime minister.
“Is Muhyiddin prepared to emulate the example of the third prime minister, Tun Hussein Onn, who had convened an emergency meeting of Parliament on January 26, 1976 — 11 days after his appointment as the third prime minister of Malaysia on the death of Tun Razak — to demonstrate that he had the confidence of the majority of the members of Parliament?
“It was only after a vote of confidence in him as prime minister of Malaysia was passed by Dewan Rakyat on January 26, 1976 that Parliament went on with its ordinary business with the annual opening of Parliament fixed on March 30, 1976, which had as its first working business the oath-taking ceremony of the then-new MP for Pekan, Najib Razak!” said Lim in a press statement today.
Lim also pointed out that this would be the first time in six decades that Parliament is meeting during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
He asked why Parliament cannot convene to end its meeting before the start of the fasting month which is expected to begin on April 25.
The Pakatan Harapan federal government collapsed after Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad resigned as prime minister and Bersatu decided to leave the coalition last week.
After a week of political uncertainty, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong appointed Muhyiddin as the eighth prime minister and he was subsequently sworn in on March 1.
