Wan Junaidi addresses members of the Dewan Rakyat on Sept 23, 2021. – Bernama photo
KUALA LUMPUR (March 24): Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of law Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar today said that the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the government and the Opposition bloc does not automatically end should any party violate Article 3.3 (b) of the agreement.
He was referring to Article 4.1 of the MoU that states should Article 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3 be violated, it could amount to the truce being nullified.
“In my opinion, this does not mean that the MoU ends automatically; for example, due to what happened yesterday (failure of motion).
“It only ends when both parties to the MoU mutually agree to end it,” he told the Dewan Rakyat during his winding-up speech on the Constitutional Amendment Bill 2022.
Several BN MPs demanded Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob review the government’s stand on the MoU after the Opposition bloc rejected yesterday the motion brought by Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin to extend sub-section 4(5), which is a 28-day detention period, for another five years starting July 17, 2022.
Umno president and Bagan Datuk MP Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was among those who raised the matter.
In a statement, he claimed that the Opposition had broken promises, violated agreements and ignored its commitment to work with the government, as agreed upon through the MoU.
Ahmad Zahid said the Opposition’s move to reject the government’s motion yesterday was surprising and showed that it was not interested in political stability.
DAP secretary-general and Seremban MP Anthony Loke has since defended PH’s decision not to support sub-section 4 (5), saying it had nothing to do with the MoU.
The Dewan Rakyat yesterday failed to approve a motion to extend the effective period of sub-section 4 (5) of Sosma for another five years.
The motion was rejected after the result of a bloc vote where 84 MPs supported its extension versus 86 MPs who did not. Meanwhile, 50 MPs were not present. – Malay Mail