Call for a vote of confidence in Parliament, Bersatu info chief challenges Anwar

PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim should call for a vote of confidence in Parliament if he thinks his leadership is under threat, says Datuk Razali Idris.

"If he (Anwar) wants to show he is not scared of his own shadow, he should call for a vote of confidence each time Parliament meets.

"He is behaving like the Opposition, not the government," the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia information chief said when contacted on Sunday (May 7).

He said calling for a vote of confidence could be done without any party making a challenge.

On Dec 19 last year, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof tabled a motion for a vote of confidence for Anwar when the Dewan Rakyat met for the first time after the 15th General Election.

Anwar, who commands a two-third majority of 148 seats in the 222-seat Dewan Rakyat, secured the motion through a voice vote.

The Prime Minister recently acknowledged that there was conspiracy to topple the unity government but brushed it aside as a "monthly strategy" created by the Opposition.

In March, PAS president Tan Sri Hadi Abdul Awang said that the Opposition had every right to try and topple the government via legitimate means.

Talk of a conspiracy to oust Anwar surfaced late last month and was further fuelled by a cryptic message on May 2 by Bersatu supreme council member Dr Muhammad Faiz Na'aman about the Opposition possibly having 126 seats in the Lower House.

The Opposition currently has 74 seats in the Dewan Rakyat.

Meanwhile, Razali dismissed talk of the Opposition having the numbers to challenge Anwar.

"The issue of having enough numbers is just 'coffee shop talk' and not a statement made by the leadership or party chiefs," he said, adding that it would be difficult to unseat Anwar who has the support of 148 MPs.

He added that Opposition chief whip Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin had never said that the Opposition had made such a claim.

He also said Bersatu MPs have no plans to raise a motion of no confidence against Anwar in the coming Dewan Rakyat meeting which begins on May 22.

On Friday (May 5), Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Johari Abdul told The Star that no MP had submitted an application to table a motion of confidence in the coming meeting after the deadline ended at 5pm that day.

However, any MP can still submit an emergency motion for a vote of confidence during the meeting but it will be up to the Speaker to allow it.