UMNO supreme council member Datuk Puad Zarkashi urged MPs to change their attitude, along with the reforms proposed to the Parliamentary procedure.
“Is adding another deputy speaker’s post alone would suffice as Parliamentary reforms? What about our attitudes towards the august house?
“We need MPs to respect the sanctity of our Parliament. Two days ago, Dewan Rakyat session had to be postponed for seven minutes as it lacked quorum. It’s very shameful,” he said in a Facebook post.
A couple of days ago, the 2.30pm Dewan Rakyat session was postponed after no Government backbencher was seen present.
It was delayed after Rasah MP Cha Chee Chin alerted Deputy Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Rashid Hasnon that the sitting cannot commence as it lacked quorum.
With only 19 MPs present, Rashid had to ring the Parliament bell again to remind lawmakers to take their seat.
Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching pointed out that none of the ministers or their deputies were present to answer questions.
After the bell was rang, a few MPs joined in and made the count 27; which is one MP extra from the minimum 26 MP presence needed to start a session.
It is to note that the problem of absent MPs during a session was also prevalent during Pakatan Harapan’s administration, triggering the wrath of then prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
“We would talk to the MPs. This is the second time there is not enough quorum (in this sitting), we will have to talk to the MPs.
“They were anxious to become candidates before the elections, but after they were elected, they don’t seem to be very serious about serving the people,” Mahathir was reported saying in November 2019.
Crack the whip on lawmakers
On that note, Puad said that MPs absenteeism had happened many times and questioned why ministers could not attend a sitting to answer questions.
“Are our ministers too busy? Don’t they have offices at the Parliament building? Or is it they lack office space because we have too many Cabinet members?
“I think it’s time we set a rule that ministers must be present during Dewan Rakyat sitting. All meetings with the ministers must be conducted at the Parliament.
“As for official functions, let the Chief Secretaries from the respective ministries attend them. Ministers must attend sittings unless there is an emergency like visiting a place hit by a natural disaster,” the former Batu Pahat MP opined. – Sept 23, 2021
