December 19, 2022
KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government on Monday elected a new Parliament speaker from their ranks, underlining his administration’s strength in numbers in Parliament for the first time.
Datuk Johari Abdul, a former MP from Datuk Seri Anwar’s Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), garnered 147 votes among 222 MPs to become the new speaker. However, this is just short of a two thirds majority Mr Anwar claims to command in Parliament.
This is likely reflective of the level of support Mr Anwar has among Malaysia’s lawmakers, ahead of a confidence vote that is also scheduled to take place later on Monday as part of a two-day special sitting for Malaysia’s Parliament.
Mr Anwar will look to cement his claim that he has the support of two-thirds of Malaysia’s lawmakers through the confidence vote.
Commanding a two-thirds supermajority will allow Mr Anwar’s government to make sweeping changes to laws, including amending the Constitution and changing electoral rules.
The Parliament sitting will also see the government seek RM56 billion (S$17 billion) in additional expenditure funds, as the country’s 2023 federal budget was not passed by Parliament before it was dissolved in October to pave the way for elections.