Bersatu: Move to challenge PM merely coffee shop talk

Up-close view:The public checking out the august house during the Parliament Open Day on Saturday. The Dewan Rakyat will meet next on May 22. — Bernama

PETALING JAYA: Speculation that the Opposition has the numbers to challenge Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is just coffee shop talk, says Bersatu.

In dismissing this, party information chief Datuk Razali Idris said having enough MPs to overthrow Anwar and his government was not a statement made by the leadership or party chiefs.

“It would be difficult to unseat Anwar who has the majority support with 148 MPs.

“Even Opposition chief whip (Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin) never said this,” he said when contacted yesterday.

Razali said Bersatu MPs had no plans to submit a motion of confidence against Anwar in the coming Dewan Rakyat meeting on May 22.

On Friday, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Johari Abdul said no MP had submitted a request to table a motion of confidence in the coming meeting after the deadline ended at 5pm that day.

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

Razali also said Anwar should call for a confidence vote in Parliament if he thinks his leadership is under threat.

“If he (Anwar) is afraid of his own shadow, then he should call for a vote of confidence each time Parliament meets,” he said.

On Dec 19 last year, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof tabled a motion on 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-thirds majority in the 222-seat Dewan Rakyat, secured the motion through a voice vote.

Recently, the Prime Minister acknowledged that there was a conspiracy to topple the unity government but brushed it aside as a “monthly strategy” created by a “delirious” Opposition.

In March, PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang said 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 of the Opposition possibly having 126 seats in the lower house.

The Opposition currently holds 74 seats.