KUALA LUMPUR: The vote of confidence in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim caused an uproar in the Dewan Rakyat today.
Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim (Perikatan Nasional-Arau) sparked a verbal fight when he cited Standing Order 36(7), saying there was no reason for Anwar to test his majority in the house.
"The Standing Order states that we cannot use the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's or the Malay Rulers' names to influence Parliament sessions.
"Since he (Anwar) has received the consent of the king (to be prime minister), just be the prime minister. Why do we need to do this?" he said in the Dewan Rakyat.
This led to a shouting match as several MPs trained their guns on Shahidan.
Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Johari Abdul told Shahidan to wait for his turn to debate and not disrupt the sitting.
Johari said Shahidan was slated to be the second last person to debate the motion and should wait for his turn.
But Shahidan pressed on, questioning Anwar's motive behind the vote of confidence.
In response to Shahidan, Mohd Sany Hamzah (Pakatan Harapan-Hulu Langat) said: "It's because he (Anwar) has the courage to do so, unlike the eighth prime minister (Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin) who did not dare to (table motion of confidence).
"He only knows how to declare an emergency."
Howard Lee (PH-Ipoh Timor) then stood up and demanded that Shahidan retract his words and take back his attempt to raise the Standing Order.
A month ago, Anwar had promised to test his majority support in Parliament through a vote of confidence.
