TENGKU Razaleigh Hamzah – Ku Li as he is better known – is the longest serving member of the Dewan Rakyat.

He is, therefore, nobody’s fool to be told by the Dewan Rakyat Speaker Azhar Azizan Harun that the standing orders state that government matters must be prioritised over other matters. 

Well acquainted with the Westminster system on which the Malaysian system of government is based, Ku Li knows that at the heart of the system is the concept of the separation of powers between the three branches of government: executive, legislature and judiciary.

The convention that a no-confidence vote takes precedence over normal business for the day has been presented much earlier. 

Let’s address Azhar’s reliance on the Australia practice where a no-confidence motion will not be expedited without a minister taking it up. It is respectfully submitted that the reference to the Australian practice is tenuous.

The Australian House of Representatives’ standing orders contain explicit provision on a censure of or no confidence in the government. Standing order (SO) 48 states as follow:

“A motion on notice or an amendment of a motion which expresses censure of or no confidence in the government shall have priority of all other business until it is disposed of by the house, if it is accepted by a minister as a motion or amendment of censure or no confidence.”

Because of the increasing frequency of censure motions generally, SO48 has been effective in lessening such motions in recent years.

The Dewan Rakyat standing orders contain no such provision. A motion of no confidence can arguably fall under SO18(1) where its states as follow:

“Any member other than a minister may rise in his place and ask leave to discuss a defined matter of urgent public importance by reading the text of the motion approved by Tuan Yang di-Pertua.”

The Dewan Rakyat speaker has discretion to decide which item should go first on the parliamentary order paper. Which is why Ku Li wrote to the speaker and not to the minister as insisted by Azhar. 

The speaker is allowed under SO99 to decide upon any point of interpretation of any standing order, or upon any matter of practice, and he may from time to time issue rulings thereon.

Where in making any decision there has been a failure to comply with any provision of the standing order in the proceeding, such failure shall be treated as an irregularity and shall not nullify the proceedings. (SO99A)

Above all, Article 62(1) of the constitution empowers each house of Parliament to regulate its own procedure.

Be that as it may, based on authoritative sources in the UK, the motion of no confidence should take precedence despite SO15 giving precedence to government business.

As someone who has the image of a reformer and independent activist before his appointment as speaker, Azhar should be keen to uphold a core convention of a Westminster-based government and parliamentary democracy.

His reliance on the Australian practice – notwithstanding that is Westminster-based – is tenuous. – October 15, 2020.

* Hafiz Hassan reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.