This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on October 22, 2015.

KUALA LUMPUR: The opposition should show the “numbers” it has to push through a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak so that the Dewan Rakyat can pressure the government to debate it, Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia said yesterday.

“Until now, they only have 89 MPs (members of Parliament). They need to show me the numbers. Maybe they have 90 people [to vote], or maybe 100, then I can pressure the government to debate the motion,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby.

He said that whether a no-confidence motion can be taken seriously hinges on whether the opposition has gathered enough lawmakers to vote for the motion.

He said there are concerns because PAS is not part of a formal Pakatan Harapan coalition, so its participation in such a motion is “questionable”.

In Penang, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said Pakatan Harapan would continue to pursue the no-confidence motion despite Pandikar’s move to rule out the motion for the current sitting.

He told reporters in Penang that he was rushing to Parliament to address the matter, and insisted there was no confusion between DAP and PKR regarding the issue.

Lim, who is Bagan MP, said there was no disagreement between the two opposition parties regarding the motion.

He said DAP only did not agree that a motion of such importance should be tabled by just any lawmaker, and recommended that it come from opposition leader Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

The motion was initiated by Petaling Jaya Selatan MP Hee Loy Sian, who submitted a notice to the Dewan Rakyat for the motion to be tabled. The motion is the 25th item in the Order Paper.

Following Lim’s complaint, Wan Azizah said on Tuesday that Hee would retract the motion and that she would file the no-confidence motion for Pakatan Harapan.

“That has been resolved,” Lim said. — The Malaysian Insider