BY writing a second letter to the Dewan Rakyat speaker questioning the legitimacy of Muhyiddin Yassin’s government, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah is signalling to lawmakers to vote according to their conscience on Budget 2021, said analysts and party insiders. 

Opposition insiders said the Gua Musang MP’s letter was distributed to all lawmakers yesterday to hammer home the message.

“Ku Li’s letter was not supposed to go out until Monday. It was supposed to be an indicator for others to not necessarily vote yes for the budget,” the source said. 

Several lawmakers have taken to social media, including PKR’s Fahmi Fadzil and Muda’s Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, saying they received Tengku Razaleigh’s letter doubting the government’s legitimacy. 

Syed Saddiq, who is Muar MP, even asked his followers on social media on how he should vote for the budget, despite previously pledging support.

Voting down the budget will be construed as a no-confidence vote against the government and the prime minister.

Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah last month advised all politicians to support Budget 2021 in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, as the funds are crucial for medical supplies and front-liners.

But political scientists said the king’s advice is not the ultimate deciding factor and Tengku Razaleigh is right to say Parliament should be above any other institution.  

Political analyst Hisommudin Bakar of Ilham Centre said Tengku Razaleigh has opened the floodgates for politicians to either abstain from or vote down the supply bill. 

“Tengku Razaleigh has opened the doors for other MPs to vote the way they want to go.

“I agree with his statement. Parliament is above everything. No institution is above the Dewan Rakyat, including the executive,” he told The Malaysian Insight. 

The executive director added that it was a hit on Dewan Rakyat Speaker Azhar Azizan Harun, who is seen to be siding with the Perikatan Nasional government. 

“It is a big slap to the speaker because he is bending over for the executive. 

“Tengku Razaleigh gave a stern warning that Parliament needs to be more powerful than the executive,” Hisommudin said. 

Universiti Malaya’s Assoc Prof Awang Azman Awang Pawi agrees and said the fact that the 11-term MP himself is a royal, makes the message even more impactful.  

“Ku Li is the closest royalty to the palace. When he acts this way, he knows about palace protocols,” he said.

Singapore Institute of International Affairs’ senior fellow Dr Oh Ei Sun said the Agong’s advice was pertinent but it is up to the individual MP to vote accordingly. 

“Lawmakers will take the king’s advice into serious consideration, as he is entitled to render such advice by constitutional convention but ultimately, they are the ones to decide whether to pass the budget,” he said. 

Oh said other MPs might not be open about their stand like the veteran politician, as they were still waiting for deals to be struck.  

“Unlike Tengku Razaleigh, most MPs still keep their cards close to their chest, as they await successively better offers and rewards,” he said. 

The budget will be put to a vote on Thursday.

Barisan Nasional has made two demands – lump-sum withdrawals from Account 1 of the Employees’ Provident Fund and an extension of the loan moratorium – as a condition to support the RM322.5 billion budget.

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

Muhyiddin previously counted 113 members 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.

He said Umno should not tell him what to do as he represented his constituency, not his party, in the Dewan Rakyat. – November 24, 2020.