KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 — Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has called on his party and the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition to break free from the political agreement inked with Pakatan Harapan (PH) after the Opposition voted against an extension of the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
The motion proposes to extend enforcement of the 28-day detention period under Section 4(5) of Sosma for another five years from July 31, 2022.
Taking to Facebook, Zahid who is facing 47 criminal charges expressed shock over the government's failure in getting the Sosma amendment passed.
“This is because, if we refer to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the government (Perikatan Nasional) and the Opposition (Pakatan Harapan), Article 3 clearly states that the Opposition must agree, or abstain, in any motion brought by the government. It is one of the steps taken to create political stability in the current administration.
“However, when the motion tabled this time failed due to lack of support from the Opposition, it is appropriate for all of us to conclude that they have broken their promises, violated the agreement and completely ignored their previous commitments. This situation reflects a number of things that must be taken seriously,” he said, accusing PH of not being keen on creating political stability.
He said PH is very likely to “forget their promises and their commitments easily”.
“In my view, there is no use in us continuing to hold on to their promise,” he said, adding that the government must also have its own strong majority which does not rely on support from the Opposition.
Zahid added that the government in its current position, will not be respected, is unstable and unable to table and pass “good Bills smoothly”.
“If asked about my stance and that of the party, I think everything is already very clear. In fact, our determination and stance during the Umno General Assembly the other day is something rational and well-founded. I hope the people out there can see how fragile and risky the existing form of government is. In fact, it is a great lesson to political parties like Umno and BN.
“All this only strengthens my spirit and belief that Umno should rise again as a strong, big and respected political force,” he added, labelling the incident in the Parliament yesterday as embarrassing and a disgrace and which now demands Umno to strengthen itself in a strategic and immediate way.
There were 86 MPs who voted against the motion, while 84 MPs supported the motion. The remaining 50 were absent.
