MELAKA, April 21 - The Melaka state legislative assembly turned into a shouting match when an attempt by the opposition to call for an emergency motion, aimed to debate a vote of no confidence against Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam was rejected by speaker Datuk Othman Muhamad.
Goh Leong San (DAP-Kesidang) had submitted a notice to Othman last night calling for an emergency motion to discuss Mohd Ali's "tainted image" "lack of integrity" and "loss of confidence in the chief minister by the people", during the three-day sitting.
However, Othman said he decided to reject the motion because it did not fulfill all three criteria for it to be debated, although it did meet the first criteria, that of being a specific issue.
"There is no great urgency to table the motion because it is not a natural disaster - it is also not of public interest as the case had been settled by Umno," he said.
Goh meanwhile, said he was entitled under the House rules to at least read out the contents of his emergency motion.
He added that the motion was based on the perception of Mohd Ali's integrity and the loss of trust in his leadership by the people.
"This is because of his involvement in money politics in the recent Umno election which has affected his credibility as a leader, resulting in a loss of confidence by the people," he said.
This caused several Barisan Nasional (BN) backbenchers to voice their dissatisfaction, drawing a response from Opposition assemblyman that resulted in a 20-minute shouting match.
Othman later reminded the Opposition assemblymen that he had already made a ruling on the motion and requested the House to continue with the proceedings.
On March 17, the Umno Disciplinary Board headed by Tengku Tan Sri Ahmad Rithaudeen found Mohd Ali guilty of breaking the party Code of Ethics and barred him from contesting the deputy president's post during the Umno election.
The action was in accordance with Article 10.1 of the Umno Code of Ethics.
Meanwhile, Mohd Ali said he had told the Board that he was not involved in money politics but they (Board) had deemed him guilty and he had accepted the decision made by the party.
"This is an attempt by DAP to seek cheap publicity," he said. - Bernama
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