Anwar Ibrahim passes parliamentary test of legitimacy as 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia

Anwar Ibrahim at the parliament session (Photo: Prime Minister Office)

KUALA LUMPUR: Anwar Ibrahim today confirmed his legitimacy as the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia when the motion on vote of confidence was approved by a majority voice at the opening sitting of the 15th parliament.

The legitimacy was confirmed by Speaker Johari Abdul as he announced the result of the voice vote taken after 13 government and opposition members debated the motion.

Although the vote of confidence on the prime minister was not compulsory, the government had taken the initiative to table the motion to prove that he had the confidence of the House to be the 10th Prime Minister after taking his oath of office on Nov 24.

Anwar Ibrahim leading his team to the parliament session (Photo: Prime Minister Office)

The Malaysian government had twice tabled a similar vote of confidence in 1976 for the late Tun Hussein Onn as the third Prime Minister and in 2003 when Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was the fifth Prime Minister, Malaysian news agency Bernama reported.