PN MPs at sea on first day of work in the opposition
PN members of parliament have yet to adapt to their new role, says Awang Azman Pawi of Universiti Malaya. (Bernama pic)
PETALING JAYA: An analyst has panned Perikatan Nasional’s performance in the Dewan Rakyat on its first day on the opposition bench.
It was obvious that PN had yet to adapt to its new role, said Awang Azman Pawi of Universiti Malaya.
Speaking to FMT, he said Shahidan Kassim (Arau) and Takiyuddin Hassan (Kota Bharu), for instance, seemed unaware that they were questioning PN chairman Muhyiddin Yassin’s wisdom with their remarks about the superfluity of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s vote of confidence motion.
Shahidan said the voting was a waste of time and Takiyuddin said the motion was unnecessary since Anwar had been appointed by the King. But it was Muhyiddin (Pagoh) who had demanded that Anwar prove his majority in Parliament.
Awang Azman said he believed PN MPs knew Anwar would win the vote of confidence. But he added that they should still have called for bloc voting instead of complaining later that the votes were not counted.
He also said PN MPs needed to debate with facts and figures and move on from their election campaigning mode.
“The people are watching and evaluating the MPs,” he said. “If they can’t do their job well as opposition MPs, how can they perform if they are in the government?”
Another analyst, Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara, said PN MPs’ arguments that the vote of confidence was unnecessary did not hold water.
“They were the ones who disputed Anwar’s legitimacy,” he said. “So he had no choice but to table the motion. It was not academic.”
Azmi said all parties should now move on since Anwar had proven he had majority support.
“The government can do its job and the opposition can do its job too,” he said. “There is no need to harp on the issue of Anwar’s numbers. It doesn’t serve any purpose.”
Anwar won the vote of confidence on Monday by voice vote.
PETALING JAYA: An analyst has panned Perikatan Nasional’s performance in the Dewan Rakyat on its first day on the opposition bench.
It was obvious that PN had yet to adapt to its new role, said Awang Azman Pawi of Universiti Malaya.
Speaking to FMT, he said Shahidan Kassim (Arau) and Takiyuddin Hassan (Kota Bharu), for instance, seemed unaware that they were questioning PN chairman Muhyiddin Yassin’s wisdom with their remarks about the superfluity of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s vote of confidence motion.
Shahidan said the voting was a waste of time and Takiyuddin said the motion was unnecessary since Anwar had been appointed by the King. But it was Muhyiddin (Pagoh) who had demanded that Anwar prove his majority in Parliament.
Awang Azman said he believed PN MPs knew Anwar would win the vote of confidence. But he added that they should still have called for bloc voting instead of complaining later that the votes were not counted.
He also said PN MPs needed to debate with facts and figures and move on from their election campaigning mode.
“The people are watching and evaluating the MPs,” he said. “If they can’t do their job well as opposition MPs, how can they perform if they are in the government?”
Another analyst, Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara, said PN MPs’ arguments that the vote of confidence was unnecessary did not hold water.
“They were the ones who disputed Anwar’s legitimacy,” he said. “So he had no choice but to table the motion. It was not academic.”
Azmi said all parties should now move on since Anwar had proven he had majority support.
“The government can do its job and the opposition can do its job too,” he said. “There is no need to harp on the issue of Anwar’s numbers. It doesn’t serve any purpose.”
Anwar won the vote of confidence on Monday by voice vote.
Yes, the most toxic assault by Moo and PN against Anwar has been that he did not have the true support of the majority in Dewan Rakyat, that PH and Anwar had hoodwinked the Agong. PN supporters actually lodged a silly police report to this effect.
ReplyDeleteSo, the Vote of Confidence was necessary to neutralise this issue.
The criticism against voice vote is a Red Herring, because it is within Parliamentary procedure. A division is only called for if there is significant Nays during the voice vote, or if the Opposition insists on it, which they didn't.
In the early days after the Sheraton putsch in February 2020, Harapan also struggled to find its way to be an Opposition. They were like headless chooks. Some in DAP were looking at Shafee Apdal(!!!) to replace Anwar Ibrahim as PH leader, or even bring back Mahathir (!!!). Many predicted Anwar was finito.
ReplyDeleteAs they say, it ain't over until the Fat Lady Sings.