PETALING JAYA: The Opposition has been twice shy in tabling a motion of no-confidence against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim despite prior challenges by the Prime Minister to do so, says Fahmi Fadzil.
The unity government spokesman denied that the Opposition was not given room to table a motion despite Anwar's willingness to cut the tabling of the motion in Dewan Rakyat from two weeks to only three days.
"Not true.
"He (Anwar) has thrown down the gauntlet twice before, even promising to cut down the time required to file the motion," Fahmi said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday (Jan 12).
He said this in response to claims by PAS information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari Fadhli that there was no guarantee that Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul would allow a motion of no-confidence to be tabled even if submitted by the Opposition.
On Thursday (Jan 11), Anwar challenged the Opposition to move a motion against him in the coming Dewan Rakyat sitting which begins this Feb 26 if they intended to oust the government.
Anwar noted that more than a year had since passed since helming the administration yet there had been no challenge to his rule in the august House.
Talk of attempts by the Opposition to bring about a change in the government surfaced recently through the "Dubai Move" including the use of purported statutory declarations.
On May 6 last year, Anwar had issued a dare to the Opposition to move a motion of confidence against him in Parliament after the claims by the Opposition of having the support to do so.
He repeated the challenge again in July but the challenge did not materialise.
Instead, Anwar won a motion of confidence in Dewan Rakyat on Dec 19 last year.
The motion, which was tabled by deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, saw 10 MPs from both sides of the political divide taking part in debates.
The motion was passed without the Opposition calling for a bloc vote.
