KUALA LUMPUR: What was supposed to be a debate on the motion of confidence in the prime minister's leadership degenerated into a shouting match with both sides trying to drown out each other as they traded barbs.
Former Umno warlord Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim (PN-Arau) got the ball rolling when he took aim at deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof for invoking the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and Malay rulers' name in tabling the motion.
He said Fadillah should not drag the Malay Rulers into the issue and their names used to influence the outcome of proceedings.
This prompted Mohd Sany Hazman (PH-Hulu Langat), who was seated in a wheelchair due to a recent operation, to join in the fray, saying that Pakatan Harapan (PH) was doing so because they were brave.
He said the eighth prime minister (Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin) wasn't and that was why he declared an emergency instead of facing a vote of confidence in Parliament.
Previously, numerous MPs had filed motions of no confidence against Muhyiddin when he was in the top post, but the motions were never allowed to be tabled.
Sany's retort did not sit well with another Perikatan Nasional (PN) representative, Datuk Ahmad Marzuk Shaary (Pengkalan Chepa), who dared the PH member of parliament to stand up.
"If you are brave, then stand up!" he shouted.
This led to a further shouting match between Sany, Shahidan and other MPs from both government and opposition blocs.
The ruckus eventually worsened when opposition leader Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin (PN-Larut) took the floor and cited a report claiming that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was Malaysia's "first full-blown homosexual" prime minister.
Hamzah cited the headline of a report by a little-known Italian news outlet called Agenzia Nova, which carried the story on Anwar's appointment.
The former home minister also described the motion of confidence as nothing more than a gimmick as the unity government had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to support Anwar.
He said one of the conditions set under the MoU is that every party in the unity government must ensure that their MPs support Anwar and his administration in any confidence motion or bills in the Dewan Rakyat.
As expected the motion of confidence in Anwar was later unanimously passed.
Earlier, the first reading of the Consolidated Fund (Expenditure On Account) Bill 2022 was also tabled by Anwar, who is also finance minister.
The bill is mainly to pay the salaries of civil servants and other related operational expenditure to ensure the smooth operations of the government until the new budget is passed.
Budget 2023 was presented on Oct 7 by the then finance minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz with a total allocation of RM372.3 billion but was not approved due to the dissolution of Parliament three days later to make way for the 15th general election (GE15).
Anwar is expected to table a full new budget early next year.
He was reported to have said that the government will look at the proposals in the budget tabled by the previous government and make the necessary changes before tabling his government's budget.