Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Azalina Othman today clarified that she did not say that a motion of no-confidence against the prime minister cannot be brought to Parliament.
Instead, she said, what she meant was it is unlikely to be successful since BN has majority control of the House.
"I had actually answered a question from a report who asked about a no-confidence vote against the PM. I denied that there is any such motion. […]
"I said that in Malaysia, a no-confidence vote cannot be done easily because it can only pass with majority support of House. The majority of MPs support the leader of the House, that is our prime minister.
"By that, I mean that while it is the prerogative of any MP to bring this motion but they will not see it passed given that most MPs support the PM," she said in a statement today.
Azalina, who oversees of parliamentary affairs, yesterday said a vote of no-confidence against Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak would not take place .
"We don’t work like that. In Malaysia, cannot vote like that. You have to get majority support (for the vote), and the majority now is with the prime minister," she reportedly said.
Parliamentary sitting resumes on Oct 18, but opposition members want an emergency sitting so a vote of no-confidence can be called.
The opposition also invited BN MPs unhappy with Najib to jointly vote against Najib.
A vote in the Dewan Rakyat can only happen through a motion tabled by an MP, and the house speaker has the right to prioritise other matters, thus blocking the vote.
Last month, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi claimed there was an attempt by an Umno member to gain support through the "back door" by gathering support from MPs.
Zahid, who is also Home Minister, cited intelligence reports to say that the man was trying to get MPs to sign statutory declaration of no confidence in Najib.
This could be brought to the Agong as proof that Najib has lost confidence of majority of the House.
However, Zahid claimed the plot has been neutralised.
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