Surprise in Parliament on Monday?

Opposition alliance Pakatan Rakyat has yet to submit any motion of no-confidence to parliament, two days ahead of when sitting is slated to reconvene, according to an opposition leader.

PKR vice-president Azmin Ali confirmed Pakatan lawmakers have not given any notice to the House on the motion but declined to elaborate on the "element of surprise" set to take place on Monday.

"If we said it is an element of surprise and we say what is it, then it will no longer be a surprise," the Gombak MP, also PKR whip, quipped when contacted by Malaysiakini yesterday.

Prior to this, there was speculation that the opposition may table a motion of no-confidence after Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi rejected a meeting requested by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, purportedly to discuss a transition of power.

Anwar initially vowed to topple the Barisan Nasional-led government by Sept 16, but to date, this has yet to happen.

Met on the sidelines of his sodomy trial on Thursday, Anwar said Pakatan will keep the motion of no-confidence as an option. He declined to comment further on his next course of action.

Anwar's Speech To Set The Tone

The Dewan Rakyat is set to reconvene after a one-month Ramadhan and Hari Raya break. The current session, which started on Aug 18, will sit until Dec 11.

While a big surprise seems unlikely on Monday, all eyes will be on Anwar’s debate on the 2009 budget that was tabled by Abdullah - in his capacity as finance minister then - on Aug 29.

"The Opposition Leader will use his speech as the platform to set the tone why the MPs should leave Umno or BN to support the policies initiated by Pakatan," said Azmin.

Under parliamentary convention, the Opposition Leader will be the first to debate on the budget. Eight days have been allocated for the debate, to be followed by the replies from each ministry.

Apart from Anwar, Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng (DAP-Bagan) is slated to ask the second question, related to the country’s economy, during the 90-minute oral question session, according to the order paper for Monday’s proceedings.

The order paper also did not indicate any special motion to be debated on Monday.