PETALING JAYA – Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil slammed a PAS leader for claiming that a no-confidence motion could be rejected or dismissed if submitted to the Dewan Rakyat.
Responding to a statement by PAS information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari, Fahmi said Fadhli might have forgotten that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had invited the opposition to file a motion against him twice last year, but Perikatan Nasional (PN) failed to make a move.
“Not true. He (Anwar) has thrown down the gauntlet twice before, even promising to cut down the time required to file the motion.
“Maybe YB Pasir Mas (Fadhli) has forgotten, or is too lazy to remember,” Fahmi said in a posting on X (formerly Twitter), today.
Earlier today, a news portal reported that Fadhli claimed there is no guarantee that Dewan Rakyat Speaker Johari Abdul will allow a no-confidence motion to be tabled against Anwar.
This comes on the heels of speculation since last month that opposition figures are trying to entice government MPs to switch their support and topple the government.
Fadhli had also claimed that several motions PN MPs tried to table last year had been rejected.
Fahmi today rubbished this and said that not only had Anwar invited PN to file a no-confidence motion against him twice last year, but had even requested for the notice period to file such motions be shortened from two weeks to three days.
“The thing is, the opposition is not willing to do it (file a no-confidence motion) because once done, that’s it. If they were willing, they would have shown their strength since December 2022 during the motion of confidence,” Fahmi added in another post on X.
Anwar had in May and July last year challenged the opposition to file a no-confidence motion to unseat him as prime minister.
Yesterday, Anwar said that the opposition does not have the strength to move a no-confidence motion against him in Parliament.
“They (opposition) have not done it (move the no-confidence vote) for a long time, one year already. Every day, we have been kept waiting. So, we are not bothered about that,” Anwar said. – January 12, 2024