KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22 — Umno MP Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has said that he will not participate in debating the Budget 2021 after Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan @ Harun refused to address the no-confidence vote motions submitted to the Lower House.

In a letter dated November 19 circulated on social media and has been verified as genuine, the MP known as Ku Li said he cannot participate since the legitimacy of Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has not been established without such a vote.

"As the legitimacy of the government has not been decided yet, I am bound by my conscience on the oath I have taken and, therefore cannot participate in the debate on the budget,” he said in the letter addressed to Azhar.

The Gua Musang MP had previously said he wanted a guarantee that a no-confidence motion could be tabled against the prime minister in the upcoming Dewan Rakyat sitting, following the failure of its Speaker to do so in the past sitting.

In the September 25 dated letter sighted by Malay Mail, Tengku Razaleigh had then asked Dewan Rakyat Speaker Azhar why the no-confidence motion was not debated.

In the letter, Tengku Razaleigh 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 his reply, Azhar however said that such a motion will only be expedited if it receives the consent of the minister in charge of law, Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan.

Tengku Razaleigh in the latest letter has since disagreed with Azhar’s reasoning.

"To participate in the Dewan Rakyat on the question of the Budget without first establishing the prime minister and his minister’s legitimacy is to compromise on an important constitutional principle which will have serious consequences on the upholding of our Constitution and the Rule of Law and the possible use of political corruption to maintain power in conflict of the Constitution.

"It is my considered view that ‘political corruption’ by its very nature can be described as the ‘worm in the bud’ that will destroy our constitutional system of democracy from within,” Tengku Razaleigh wrote.

Tengku Razaleigh had before this said he was offered the adviser post in Petronas by the Muhyiddin, to which he rejected.

Dewan Rakyat is currently debating Budget 2021 and is expected to vote on it this Wednesday, amid reservations over the budget even from Muhyiddin’s own allies in Barisan Nasional.