TENGKU Razaleigh Hamzah has decided against taking part in the Budget 2021 debate as long as Azhar Azizan Harun refuses to allow a confidence vote on Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

The Gua Musang MP conveyed his position in a letter dated November 19 to the Dewan Rakyat speaker.

His aides confirmed the authenticity of the letter, which has been circulating in social media since this afternoon.

The longest-serving member of the Dewan Rakyat also criticised Azhar over his reason for not allowing a confidence motion.

“As the legitimacy of the government has not been decided yet, I am bound by my conscience on the oath I have taken and, therefore, cannot participate in the debate on the budget,” the Umno advisory council chairman said in the six-page letter.

“To participate in the Dewan Rakyat on the question of the budget without first establishing the prime minister’s and his ministers’ legitimacy is to compromise on an important constitutional principle, which will have serious consequences on the upholding of our constitution, the rule of law and the possible use of political corruption to maintain power in conflict with the constitution.

“It is my considered view that ‘political corruption’ by its very nature can be described as the ‘worm in the bud’ that will destroy our constitutional system of democracy from within.

“The opinion in the public domain is that ‘political corruption’ and money are destroying the soul of our nation and political system,” he said.

The debate on the Budget 2021 ended on Thursday, and tomorrow the ministers will reply to points raised during the debate.

Tengku Razaleigh’s latest letter is a follow-up to an earlier one he had sent the speaker on September 25, which was made public on October 14.

In the earlier letter, Tengku Razaleigh had made the argument that Parliament should be allowed to determine whether Muhyiddin Yassin has the support of the majority of its members, and the house should allow a motion of confidence against him.

“No-confidence motions should be given urgent attention in the Dewan Rakyat so that Muhyiddin’s leadership receives the proper confirmation from Parliament,” he had said in the September 25 letter.

Tengku Razaleigh had said allowing Parliament to table the no-confidence motion is in line with Article 62 of the federal constitution.

However, Azhar later replied that the business of the house was in the hands of the government and whether a trust vote was to be given priority over government matters was Putrajaya’s prerogative.

He suggested Tengku Razaleigh raise the matter with Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Takiyuddin Hassan who is in charge of Parliament.

Tengku Razaleigh, in his latest letter, disagrees with this.

“It is my view that the minister of law has no role whatsoever in determining whether a vote of confidence of the Dewan Rakyat can be tabled.

He said the Dewan Rakyat is an autonomous and independent institution outside the control of the executive arm of government or any other authority.

“To suggest that such an important issue is subject to the agreement of the minister of law is unconstitutional and a serious breach of the autonomy and independence of the Dewan Rakyat from any form of control by the executive,” he said

The budget will be put to the vote on Thursday.

Barisan Nasional has made two demands – lump sum withdrawals from EPF Account 1 by contributors and an extension of the loans moratorium – as condition to its support of the budget.

There are 222 seats in the Dewan Rakyat, but only 220 are occupied after the  deaths of the Batu Sapi and Gerik MPs.

Muhyiddin had counted 113 members as being on his side.

In an interview with The Malaysian Insight last week, Tengku Razaleigh said MPs should vote according to their conscience instead of along party lines, especially when it comes to the crucial RM322.5 billion Budget 2021 tabled by the Perikatan Nasional government.

He said Umno should not tell him what to do as he represented his constituency, not his party, in the Dewan Rakyat.

“I am elected by the people in Gua Musang. I stand with Umno but I don’t represent Umno in Parliament. I am the Gua Musang MP first.

“Sometimes, Umno decides to vote this way or that way. I don’t think so. That is not part of parliamentary democracy.

“We vote according to the wishes of our voters. If voters say choose white, we choose white. How do we know? We interact with them. We must attend to that,” Tengku Razaleigh told The Malaysian Insight. – November 22, 2020.