The Kuala Lumpur Traveler

No confidence motion…. is it that bad? I don’t think so. Especially when the Parliment is controlled by MP’s from the party led by the person affected by the no-confidence motion being moved.

Take a look for example the motion of no confidence moved against the Prime Minister of Thailand Samak Sundaravej recently. The parliment president allowed the motion and a three-day parlimentary debate ensued. At the end of the three days intense debates, Samak Sundaravej survived the motion. Yes… he survived because his coalition of 5 political parties controls the parliment.

In the South Australian Parliment, Health Minister John Hill also survived the no-confidence motion moved by the members of opposition party.

Another Australian politician, Australian Capital Territory Chief Minister, Jon Stanhope fend off a no-confidence motion against him in the Legislative Assembly over his handling of a proposed $1 billion gas-fired power plant and data centre.

There are many other examples where we can see how motions of no confidence were allowed, debated and defeated in the parliments. What is more important to observe is that, the speakers (or similar ranks) of these parliments, were so open, independent and shows no biasness towards the government when it comes to considering any motion.

Interestingly, Malaysia Parlimentary proceeding is so backward when it comes to any motion by the opposition, let alone a motion of no-confidence moved against the Prime Minister Pak Lah. You have witnessed today of what happened in Malaysia when a no-confidence motion is moved against Pak Lah, the Prime Minister of Malaysia who had promised to resign only in 2010.

In the name of security, a court order is obtained just to prevent one person from coming anywhere near the Parliment where his wife will be moving the motion against the Prime Minister. If that is not enough, the police is also ordered to put up one of the worst road blocks on all roads leading to Parliment. The public is also prevented from coming to Parliment, all in the name of security. But whose security? Pak Lah’s? Lastly but not least, the Speaker rejected the motion and that is it. No need any debate. This is democracy the Bolehland way.

Malaysian Parliment had been turned, practically, into a war zone. That is how Malaysian Parliment and government handled a no-confidence motion. Come to think of it, perhaps Kenya is much better than Malaysia.

Photos credit: Malaysiakini