KUALA LUMPUR: The vote of confidence on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, if it happens, will likely follow the precedents set in the Dewan Rakyat in 1976 and 2003.

Legal experts, when contacted, provided differing views on the matter but agreed that the Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun would most likely follow previous precedents.

Political observers nationwide have questioned whether Ismail Sabri would need the 111-majority in the 220-seats in the Dewan Rakyat to prove his legitimacy or if he could survive the vote with a simple majority based on how many MPs attended the session.

As per normal practice in the Dewan Rakyat, only bills brought up by the government can be passed with a simple majority based on the number of MPs present in the House. 

Constitutional expert Professor Dr Nik Ahmad Kamal Nik Mahmod believed this would be the case for a motion of confidence as well, since Article 62(5) of the Federal Constitution provides that "members absent from a House shall not be allowed to vote".

"Therefore, majority is determined in that manner. An absolute majority is only required in certain bills such as the amendment to the constitution which requires a two-thirds majority."

However, prominent constitutional expert Prof Datuk Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi believed Ismail Sabri would still require the 111 majority regardless of whether all 220 MPs did not attend the vote.

"The Federal Constitution mentioned that a prime minister is appointed if the person commands the confidence of the majority of the members of the House.

"The keywords here are 'majority of the members' which means the total membership of the House.

"I believe it is clear here and even if there are other provisions in, say, the Standing Orders, as we all know, the Federal Constitution will prevail because no other laws can override it," he said.

Shad's view was echoed by former deputy Dewan Rakyat Speaker Nga Kor Ming who said the votes for a motion of confidence would be counted based on the total numbers of MPs in the House.

"This means, even if there are only 150 MPs present at the time of voting, the prime minister still requires the 111-majority.

"We are talking about the amount of confidence the prime minister has, not just about passing a bill," he said.

Former Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Mohamad Ariff Md Yusoff expressed agreement with Nga but pointed out that the House would most likely follow past precedents.

"Testing the confidence of a prime minister would usually mean he or she needs the simple majority out of the total membership, but the Parliament has two past precedents on matters involving the vote of confidence," he said when contacted.

In 1976 and 2003, former premiers Tun Hussein Onn and Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi tested their legitimacy in the House after taking over from their successors.

Instead of calling for either a voice vote, a show of hands, or secret ballots, the speakers presiding the sessions at the time allowed MPs from different political parties to debate the motion and express their confidence in the sitting prime minister in their speeches.

Based on the copies of the Hansard from both years, the motions of confidence put forth in the House were debated and supported in a friendly manner, where even opposition MPs did not get the former premiers into trouble.

This includes DAP Supremo Lim Kit Siang who was the Opposition Leader in 1976.

"We agree that Datuk Hussein Onn possesses the qualifications and qualities to become the third Prime Minister of Malaysia. Because of this, we do not oppose this motion before the House.

"However, as we do not always agree with the policies of the ruling party, which is now headed by Datuk Hussein Onn, the Prime Minister, we will abstain in this motion.

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"Datuk Hussein Onn, however, can be assured of our full support in policies, measures and efforts to remove the basic problems confronting the country as those which I have outlined," Lim had said on Jan 27, 1976.

The NST is attempting to reach Azhar for clarifications on how the motion of confidence might be conducted.