Bersatu MP: Are Ambiga, Harapan against conditions for clean govt?
(Editor's note: This article has been rewritten to accommodate an immediate response from Ambiga.)
Saratok MP Ali Biju has accused Pakatan Harapan and lawyer Ambiga Sreenevasan of disagreeing with Perikatan Nasional's (PN) terms that the new cabinet should be "clean".
In a statement today, Ali (above) said various arguments made against the terms revealed by PN chairperson Muhyiddin Yassin were "absurd" because "no decent person" would reject the validity of such terms.
"Firstly, Muhyiddin said support is on conditions of...
(Editor's note: This article has been rewritten to accommodate an immediate response from Ambiga.)
Saratok MP Ali Biju has accused Pakatan Harapan and lawyer Ambiga Sreenevasan of disagreeing with Perikatan Nasional's (PN) terms that the new cabinet should be "clean".
In a statement today, Ali (above) said various arguments made against the terms revealed by PN chairperson Muhyiddin Yassin were "absurd" because "no decent person" would reject the validity of such terms.
"Firstly, Muhyiddin said support is on conditions of clean government (no persons facing criminal charges to be in cabinet), separation of powers, independence of the judiciary, and upholding constitutional monarchy.
"Harapan's argument that this nullifies their support for (Umno's Bera MP) Ismail Sabri Yaakob (as PM) is nothing short of ridiculous. Any coalition that takes power in Malaysia must in any event adhere to these conditions.
"Are Harapan and Ambiga now against clean government and independence of the judiciary?" he asked.
The Bersatu lawmaker is among 114 MPs who pledged, in writing to Istana Negara, to support Ismail Sabri as the new prime minister.
However, caretaker prime minister Muhyiddin said that the new executive must not include MPs facing criminal charges.
This prompted Ambiga to argue on Twitter that PN's terms invalidated its support for Ismail Sabri, pointing to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's specific instruction that the MPs must declare “clear, unambiguous, and unconditional” confidence in their candidate of choice.
Her remarks were also echoed by Amanah MPs Mahfuz Omar and Hanipa Maidin. The latter had accused PN of misleading the Agong regarding their support for Ismail Sabri's premiership.
In an immediate response to Ali's comments, Ambiga told Malaysiakini that the conditions set by Muhyiddin were good and the values are expected of any prime minister.
However, the fact that Muhyiddin had to use it as a condition (for support for Ismail Sabri) showed the lack of trust in the prime minister nominee to uphold these values.
"This shows a lack of trust in the PM nominee to uphold these sacred values. That may not have been the intention but that is a fair interpretation," she said.
This calls into question whether a government under Ismail Sabri can be stable and whether PN will withdraw support if these conditions are breached.
"Who decides if they are breached? If PN decides that conditions were breached, they will pull out, presumably, and the government falls again," she added.
Meanwhile, Ali accused Hanipa and Mahfuz of purposefully disregarding Article 43(2)(a) of the Federal Constitution, arguing that this law states that the support for the prime minister is gauged by the stand of members of the Dewan Rakyat individually.
"It is astonishing that Mahfuz, Hanipa, and Ambiga who was a former Bar president, have taken this extreme and illogical position; one would have thought that they would have warmly welcomed the support of PN for a clean government as well as the independence of the judiciary.
"Instead, their desperation for Harapan to take federal power has driven them all to a new low," he added.
