PETALING JAYA: A confidence vote in newly-sworn in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob will prevent a recurrence of doubts, says Tan Sri Rais Yatim.

       The Dewan Negara Speaker said that such a vote will prevent what happened to former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin from happening again.

       He added that the procedure is necessary to be done in Parliament to confirm what has been decided by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, despite some people saying it is unnecessary.

       “What has happened before should not be repeated,” Rais told Utusan Malaysia on Monday (Aug 23).

       “It needs to be confirmed through a majority in Parliament because it will not end just by looking at the statutory declarations (SD). It must be ratified in the Dewan Rakyat,” Rais added.

       Last Tuesday, the King decreed that the Member of Parliament chosen to be the next prime minister has to immediately submit a motion of confidence in the Dewan Rakyat to prove he has the confidence of the majority.

       Whoever is picked to lead the Federal Government has to be chosen based on the Federal Constitution, and the people should not be burdened with political turmoil while struggling with health and economic issues due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he added.

       Comptroller of the Royal Household for Istana Negara Datuk Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin said Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah decreed this during his audience with the heads and representatives of the political parties last Tuesday, which lasted for more than 90 minutes.

       On the reconvening of the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara, Rais said that the dates for the sittings have yet to be confirmed.

       “Before this, we were scheduled to convene on Sept 6 for two weeks. It is now up to the new government whether to continue the session or change the date,” he said, adding that the amended date should not differ from the original date and not more than 10 days.

       Rais added that he believes that when the Cabinet line-up is completed, this part

       of the Cabinet will manage the Parliamentary programme to be carried out.

       Ismail Sabri was sworn in as the ninth Prime Minister last Saturday (Aug 21) and clocked in to Perdana Putra earlier on Monday.

       He is currently visiting several disaster areas in Kedah, including the Tupah Bridge, Taman Lembah Merbok and the Tupah water plant.

       In his maiden speech on Sunday (Aug 22), Ismail Sabri asked everyone to work as one “Malaysian Family” to join in the recovery of the nation and fight the Covid-19 pandemic.