KUALA LUMPUR: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has lashed out at the government following the announcement that the Dewan Rakyat sitting on May 18 will only accommodate the Royal Address by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
The former prime minister said the move was an attempt to stop him from tabling a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, whom he claimed was unlawfully appointed.
"Although the parliament sitting will take place for a day on May 18, but there will only be a Royal Address without a debate.
"Normally, the Royal Address represents the government's stance, which will later be debated and vote upon by the Members of Parliament.
"But now, there is no debate and no voting; this does not adhere to the rules of the Dewan Rakyat.
"The Dewan Rakyat Speaker has allowed me to table the no-confidence motion against Tan Sri Muhyiddin, but now with the sitting only taking place for a day without debate, this means I could not do so," he said in a video announcement today.
He said this appeared to be an attempt to stop him from speaking as an MP.
The Langkawi MP said he was waiting for the opportunity to explain why he wanted to table the no-confidence motion against the prime minister.
"He (Muhyiddin) said he had obtained the majority support, so I want to find out whether that is true or otherwise and the Dewan is the right place for this.
"He may have the majority now because he has offered positions to MPs, even my supporters, but I want to know what happened at the material time, when he was sworn in as the prime minister.
"Can he prove that he has the majority support as we know that 114 MPs had voted for other candidate," he said.
Dr Mahathir said in accordance with the law, The King shall appoint the prime minister after he is satisfied that he or she has the majority support of Parliament, and this could be determined during parliament sitting.
"But there is no sitting now. This means that Muhyiddin did not get the support to become prime minister as there is no sitting to determine whether it is true that he received the majority support on the day he was sworn in." he said.