Confidence and supply
Confidence-and-supply arrangements show how a government without assured support on every issue can still obtain Parliament’s backing on the votes needed to remain in office and fund public services.
The short answer
Malaysia’s Constitution focuses on whether a Prime Minister is likely to command, and continues to command, the confidence of a majority in the Dewan Rakyat. If that confidence is lost, Article 43(4) sets out the constitutional consequence: resignation of the Cabinet unless Parliament is dissolved at the Prime Minister’s request.
“Supply” concerns the laws that authorise government spending, including the national budget. A confidence-and-supply arrangement can therefore give an administration enough support for survival and funding votes while allowing the supporting parties to remain outside government and oppose it on other matters. The 2021 agreement expressly preserved PH’s opposition role in scrutiny and accountability.
The Malaysian example came after Muhyiddin Yassin resigned on 16 August 2021 and Ismail Sabri Yaakob became Prime Minister five days later. On 13 September, Ismail Sabri’s Federal Government and PH signed an MoU on transformation and political stability.
PH’s stated voting commitment was limited: after negotiation of the relevant drafts, it would support or abstain on Budget 2022, supply and finance bills, and votes whose defeat would cause the government to lose confidence. The agreement also covered COVID-19 measures and several institutional-reform areas, and said the government would not propose dissolution before 31 July 2022.
The practical federal consequences included Budget 2022 passing both Houses in December 2021 and a constitutional anti-party-hopping amendment passing the Dewan Rakyat on 28 July 2022 with 209 votes in favour. Those outcomes do not settle every debate about the arrangement: legal commentators differed over enforceability, and politicians disagreed over whether the SOSMA vote fell within the MoU’s confidence commitment.
What the sources say
Constitutional setting
Under Article 43(2)(a) of the Federal Constitution, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong appoints as Prime Minister a Dewan Rakyat member who, in His Majesty’s judgment, is likely to command the confidence of a majority of that House.
Article 43(3) makes the Cabinet collectively responsible to Parliament.
Article 43(4) provides that a Prime Minister who ceases to command the confidence of a majority of Dewan Rakyat members must tender the Cabinet’s resignation unless, at the Prime Minister’s request, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong dissolves Parliament.
A confidence-and-supply arrangement is a political agreement in which parties outside the government agree to support, or not defeat, the government on confidence matters and supply legislation, without necessarily joining the Cabinet; the 2021 Malaysian agreement contained commitments of that kind.
The 2021 case study
Muhyiddin Yassin resigned as Prime Minister on 16 August 2021; ISEAS researcher Ooi Kok Hin reported that this followed the withdrawal of support by a faction of UMNO parliamentarians and Muhyiddin’s failure to reach a confidence-and-supply agreement with the opposition.
Ismail Sabri Yaakob was sworn in as Malaysia’s ninth Prime Minister on 21 August 2021.
On 13 September 2021, the Federal Government and Pakatan Harapan (PH) signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Transformation and Political Stability at Parliament.
Ismail Sabri signed for the Federal Government; Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Guan Eng, Mohamad Sabu and Wilfred Madius Tangau signed for PH.
The MoU listed six broad areas: strengthening COVID-19 plans, administrative transformation, parliamentary reform, judicial independence, Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), and a steering committee.
In exchange for mutually negotiated drafts, PH agreed to support or abstain on Budget 2022, supply and finance bills, and votes whose defeat would cause the government to lose confidence.
The MoU also stated that it did not affect PH’s role, rights or responsibilities as the opposition to check, scrutinise, monitor and hold the government accountable in Parliament.
The agreement was to remain in force until the dissolution of the 14th Parliament, and the government undertook not to propose dissolution before 31 July 2022.
The agreement stated that it was governed and interpreted under Malaysian law.
Budget 2022 was tabled on 29 October 2021, passed at policy stage by the Dewan Rakyat on 18 November, and passed at committee stage on 13 December.
The Dewan Negara approved Budget 2022 on 21 December 2021.
The constitutional anti-party-hopping bill passed the Dewan Rakyat on 28 July 2022, with 209 of 220 members voting in favour and 11 absent.
Reporting at the time identified the anti-party-hopping legislation as one of the main conditions in the September 2021 political agreement.
The Constitution (Amendment) (No. 3) Act 2022 came into force on 5 October 2022.
Where accounts differ
No winner is picked.
Whether the 2021 MoU created legally enforceable obligations was uncertain at the time: Ooi Kok Hin of ISEAS wrote that it was unclear whether the MoU had legally binding obligations, while lawyer Philip TN Koh described it as a legal agreement governed by Malaysian law.
In March 2022, government figures accused PH of breaching the MoU when PH did not support a motion concerning the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (SOSMA); the scope of the MoU’s confidence commitment was therefore disputed in political debate.
Common questions
What is a confidence-and-supply agreement?
It is a political agreement under which parties outside the government support, or do not defeat, it on confidence matters and supply legislation without necessarily joining the Cabinet. In Malaysia’s 2021 arrangement, PH agreed to support or abstain on specified Budget 2022, supply and finance bills, and confidence-related votes after the relevant drafts were negotiated.
Can Malaysia change government without an election?
Yes. A Prime Minister who no longer commands the confidence of a majority in the Dewan Rakyat must tender the Cabinet’s resignation unless the Yang di-Pertuan Agong dissolves Parliament at the Prime Minister’s request. In August 2021, Muhyiddin Yassin resigned and Ismail Sabri Yaakob was sworn in as Prime Minister five days later.
Do parties supporting the government have to join the Cabinet?
No. A confidence-and-supply arrangement can provide support on the votes needed for government survival and funding while the supporting parties remain outside government. The 2021 MoU said it did not affect PH’s role, rights or responsibilities as the opposition to check, scrutinise, monitor and hold the government accountable in Parliament.
What does supply mean in Parliament?
Supply means laws authorising government spending, including the national budget. In the 2021 agreement, PH’s commitment covered Budget 2022 as well as supply and finance bills, after mutually negotiated drafts; it was not described as general support for every matter before Parliament.
Was the 2021 government-PH MoU legally binding?
The sources give different views, so they do not resolve the question. Ooi Kok Hin of ISEAS wrote that it was unclear whether the MoU created legally binding obligations, while lawyer Philip TN Koh described it as a legal agreement governed by Malaysian law. The MoU itself stated that it was governed and interpreted under Malaysian law.
Still open
- Whether any court has ruled on the legal enforceability of the commitments in the 2021 MoU.
- Which of the MoU's reform commitments were fully carried out before the 14th Parliament was dissolved.