Hadi going against the Agong: MPs 

Politics
8 Mar 2023 • 11:01 AM MYT
Daily Express
Daily Express

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SEPANG: DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke said PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang’s remark that the Opposition bloc has a “right” to make plans that can topple the government of the day is irresponsible.

He said it showed that Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) leadership had little else to do but to plan on robbing power through backdoor methods.

Loke said there were better ways to be a good and constructive Opposition, especially through platforms in Parliament.

“We will continue the policy we have had since 2018 in electing an Opposition MP as the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC),” he said.

Now that the country’s political turmoil has eased, the Opposition wants to play politics and cause political instability again, he added. Loke added that planning to topple the government goes against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s advice.

“Because in the King’s royal address at the opening of Parliament last month, he said that he wants to see political stability, a united government, a government led by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim that can bring Malaysia to a better path.

Besides, Anwar had called for a motion of confidence in Parliament which had passed, he added.

RSN Rayer (PH-Jelutong) urged the home minister to investigate Abdul Hadi.

He said Hadi should be probed under Section 124B of the Penal Code for “committing an activity detrimental to parliamentary democracy”, which carries a jail term of up to 20 years.

“This unity government is one that was decreed by the King,” he said, describing Hadi’s remarks as “treason against the King”.

On Monday, FMT reported Hadi as saying that the opposition had every right to formulate plans to topple the current government, adding that no one could stop it from doing so.

Hadi told reporters in Parliament that the opposition was working on retaking Putrajaya “not only through elections but also in Parliament”, adding that this was commonplace in a democratic country.

Dismissing the notion that attempts to topple the government would go against Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah’s wish for political stability in the country, Hadi said the King could not prevent changes in a democratic nation.

Rayer’s call for Hadi to be probed sparked an uproar among opposition MPs in the Dewan Rakyat, with Misbahul Munir Masduki (PN-Parit Buntar) coming to Hadi’s defence, saying that the PAS president was only making a political statement.

In response, Rayer said Hadi’s statement could be taken as a confession of such plans. “Imagine what would happen if such a statement was made by DAP MPs,” he said.

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