DEWAN Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul said MPs are no longer allowed to livestream their debates using their own devices during Parliament proceedings.
He said that this was in accordance with Standing Order 35(1) of the Standing Orders of the Dewan Rakyat, which states that any member desiring to speak should direct their observations to the Chair.
“In order to ensure that the honourable members comply with Standing Order 35(1), I hereby stipulate that the honourable members are no longer allowed to use any devices to livestream in the Dewan Rakyat,” Johari said at the beginning of the Dewan Rakyat session today (Oct 16).
“For your information, the honourable members’ speeches can be watched through the live broadcast of the Dewan Rakyat on the Malaysian Parliament’s official YouTube channel, Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) and other mass media. I hope MPs will cooperate on this matter.”
Johari said that those who had livestreamed their speeches were not directing their words to him, and such action was against the said Standing Order.
Beluran MP Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee, however, disagreed, saying that Johari’s ruling was simplified and unreasonable.
“We live in an era where the media is sophisticated, I feel that the House must move towards that direction, and not backwards. I hope this ruling can be looked into again,” said Kiandee.
In response, Johari said that Ronald can refer the matter to the relevant committee for the Standing Order to be amended.
“Write to the committee and we will make changes. No problem. Live streaming is good, but we have RTM and YouTube live, where you can pick up from there.
” said Johari.
Kiandee, who is also the Bersatu vice president, then urged Johari to take into consideration all views and it is too extreme to make a ruling to ban live streaming devices during parliamentary proceedings.
“I want to proceed, if you don’t agree, we can discuss this later outside,” Johari shot back.
Johari further announced that the number of questions during the Prime Minister’s Question Time (PMQT) will be reduced from three to two, with a maximum time of 15 minutes allocated for each question.
“This is to give more space and opportunity for MPs to raise questions for each MQT question.
“I decided that under Standing Order 24(5A) and 24A(7) to allow the prime minister to answer two MQT questions on Tuesdays with 15 minutes allotted for each question.
“The allocation of time for each question allows more additional questions to be asked to the prime minister for each question. This is effective starting tomorrow (Oct 17),” Johari elaborated. – Oct 16, 2023
Main pic credit: The Star
