Government no longer bound by MOU with Opposition after bloc vote, says Ahmad Maslan

PETALING JAYA: The Opposition's decision to vote against a government parliamentary motion is in breach of the bipartisan memorandum of understanding (MOU), says Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan.

The Pontian MP said the government is no longer bound by the agreements in the MOU since the Opposition chose to contravene it.

"The Opposition has breached the MOU. This is my personal opinion.

"Now, the government and the prime minister are no longer bound by the MOU.

"After the incident in the Dewan Rakyat when the Home Ministry lost a bloc vote, we can say goodbye to the MOU.

"Come, let's move on," Ahmad tweeted on Thursday (March 24).

Attached to his tweet were screenshots of the MOU's contents, which state that the Opposition agrees to only support or abstain in any motion or Bill filed in Parliament by the government.

On Wednesday (March 23), a motion tabled by Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin to extend the enforcement of Section 4(5) of the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) for another five years failed after the Dewan Rakyat voted against it.

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun announced that the bloc voting saw 84 MPs voting for and 86 against, while 50 MPs were absent.

The bipartisan MOU signed between the government and Pakatan Harapan last year is supposed to be in effect until July 31.

Among the agreements under the MOU was that Parliament cannot be dissolved before July 31, a move to allow a period of political stability.

The recent Umno general assembly however heard loud calls from the party for the 15th General Election to be held earlier, ahead of Parliament's term ending in June next year.

Pembangkang langgar MOU yg telah ditandatangani. Ini pandangan peribadi saya.

Jadi Kjaan & #PerdanaMenteri sudah tidak terikat dgn MOU itu.

Berdasarkan kpd peristiwa semlm di #DewanRayat bila KDN kalah undi belah bahagi, maka selamat tinggal MOU.

Ayuh kita teruskan melangkah.. pic.twitter.com/d7vNsbyoXg — Ahmad b Maslan (@ahmadmaslan) March 24, 2022