KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 14 — Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun has confirmed receiving the letter from Gua Musang MP Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah urging him to guarantee a no-confidence motion could be tabled against Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

While he thanked Razaleigh, fondly known as Ku Li, for his letter, he also laid out the specifics of a no-confidence motion in Parliament.

"I must point out that the no-confidence motion in the Dewan Rakyat’s Standing Orders is not unique to the system which we practice. In fact, the system practiced in Australia is almost similar to ours, where a no-confidence motion will not be sped up if it was not received by a minister,” he said in a statement.

Azhar added that any motions made and informed to the Speaker or the Dewan Rakyat’s secretary which are in line with the Standing Orders will be duly carried out in accordance with the law.

Ku Li’s letter dated September 25 had questioned why the no-confidence motion was not debated in the Dewan Rakyat during the previous Parliament sessions between July 13 until August 27.

He argued the motion is important due to constitutional factors, including the legitimacy of the current government under the prime minister’s leadership, and that he believed it should have been debated in the Dewan Rakyat as a matter of importance with utmost priorities for the current government to prove its legitimacy in Parliament.

Ku Li also cited Article 43 of the Federal Constitution which states that a sitting prime minister must obtain the confidence of the Dewan Rakyat as a prerequisite for him to officially helm the post.

In so doing he said that without the confidence of the Dewan Rakyat, the prime minister has no right to claim legitimacy and sidestepping the fact can be construed as a form of bad intention and falsehood towards the Constitution, and that all executions of governmental affairs must be based on the prerequisite that the prime minister has the support of the Dewan Rakyat.