Anwar’s attack on speaker shows relapse into past impatience

I refer to a report quoting PKR president Anwar Ibrahim slamming the speaker of the Dewan Rakyat, Azhar Harun, calling him “incompetent” and “unfit” for the job.

By virtue of Article 43(4) of the Federal Constitution, it is ultimately the prime minister who decides whether he commands the majority in the Dewan Rakyat.

Neither the constitution nor the Standing Orders of the House assigns any such role to the speaker on the question of whether or not the prime minister has the majority support of the House.

If the speaker presumes to officially inform the prime minister as to whether he has the majority, he would be acting beyond his jurisdiction and power.

It is utterly shameful that the opposition leader, who has been an MP for decades, is totally ignorant of this fact or worse, that he is fully aware of it but is deliberately misleading the public in order to unleash a scurrilous attack upon the speaker and the august institution of Parliament.

It is also unbecoming and totally malicious of the office of the opposition leader to launch such an intemperate and extreme attack upon the speaker.

Has Anwar in his desperation to become prime minister lost the plot and is he now reverting to mud slinging of the ugliest kind to incite the public, and to what purpose?

The prime minister has already fixed Sept 7 for a motion of confidence to be brought before the House. Anwar’s lack of patience is his Achilles’ Heel and has never served him well. He should learn from his past impatience which put him where he is today.

Ali Biju is the Saratok MP.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of MalaysiaNow.