KUALA LUMPUR, May 8 ― De facto law minister Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan said the government will not intervene over any motion submitted by the Opposition as this was the Speaker’s jurisdiction.
Commenting on several “popular motions” from Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal, Datuk Liew Vui Keong and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Takiyuddin insisted Speaker Tan Sri Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof was the final arbiter.
The Speaker rejected Shafie’s motion for a confidence vote on Dr Mahathir and Liew’s bid to an eight-day meeting but accepted Dr Mahathir’s motion for a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
“According to the Dewan’s standing orders, when an MP wants to bring a motion, it has to adhere to the rules under it. Firstly the conditions under the procedures and secondly, the conditions that are set such as must be including the public interest and it is timely.
“Who decides that, it is the Speaker,” he told a press conference in Putrajaya today.
Takiyuddin confirmed that Semporna MP Shafie and Batu Sapi MP Liew’s motions were rejected but said he did not know the fate of Dr Mahathir’s motion.
However, the Speaker issued a statement at the same time as the minister’s press conference that said the former prime minister’s motion was approved but without specifying when it may be tabled.
Mohamad Ariff’s statement also reiterated his rejection of Dr Mahathir’s separate motion for the former to remain as the Speaker until the current Parliament is dissolved.
Separately, Liew criticised Mohamad Ariff’s reasons for rejecting his and Shafie’s proposed motions as undemocratic.
