MOU between govt and Pakatan will not be terminated despite Sosma Bill defeat, says Wan Junaidi

PETALING JAYA: The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the government and Pakatan Harapan will not be automatically terminated despite the defeat of a government motion in Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday (March 23), says Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.

The Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Parliament and Law) said under paragraph 3.3(b) of the MOU, any government motion or law has to be discussed and agreed upon by both parties.

As such, he said the cooperation of both parties was important for the success of a motion or a Bill.

“I believe that in relation to point 4.1 of the MOU, it will not end automatically if a motion is not met, and if issues in 3.1 – 3.3 in the MOU are not met, it is still open to be discussed between the government and the Opposition.

“This means that if there is a contradiction, for example, as what had happened on Wednesday (March 23), the MOU will not be automatically terminated. It will be terminated when both parties agree to terminate the MOU,” he said during the winding up debate of the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2022 in the Dewan Rakyat on Thursday (March 24).

On Wednesday, the government's motion to continue with the powers to detain suspects for up to 28 days without trial under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma), was defeated in Dewan Rakyat.

A total of 84 MPs voted for and 86 against, while 50 MPs were absent after the Opposition called for a bloc vote on the motion tabled by Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin.

However, on Thursday, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun said the vote recount revealed that the motion was defeated by a single vote with Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh (BN-Besut) being mistakenly marked as absent when votes were being tallied.

Azhar said the new count is 85 for and 86 against, while 49 were absent.

The government was seeking to extend the enforcement of sub-section 4(5) in Sosma for another five years beginning July 31, 2022.

Sub-section 4(5) allows the police to detain suspects without trial for up to 28 days.

However, the sub-section must be reviewed every five years and will cease to have an effect unless both Houses of Parliament agree to extend the period for another five years.

Sosma was enacted in 2012 and sub-section 4(5) was extended for the first time in 2017, for five years, from July 31, 2017 until July 31, 2022.