Don T Blame Opposition When Parliament Falls Short Of Quorum

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PARLIAMENT | The government should not blame the opposition for failure to ensure sufficient MPs during debates in the Dewan Rakyat.
Perikatan Nasional chief whip Takiyuddin Hassan said the opposition is not responsible for ensuring the presence of government MPs when laws are being debated.
“They cannot question (the opposition’s attendance) on our side, regardless of how many are in the hall, how many they have, and how many we have - it is not a legal issue.
“The laws, bills and whatever else being debated come from the government, yet they fail to ensure quorum.
“The fact is, the session was adjourned because there was no quorum,” he said at a press conference in Parliament today.
Elaborating, Takiyuddin (PN-Kota Bharu) criticised the government, describing its failure to ensure the attendance of MPs in Parliament as a reflection of weak administration.
“From our PN list, throughout the 15th parliamentary session, there have been 10 instances where sessions were adjourned due to an insufficient quorum.
“What kind of government is this if it cannot ensure its own MPs are present in the hall? This reflects the government’s failure to secure parliamentary attendance.
“So, for PN, this is something that should not happen, especially for a government that claims to be ‘Madani’,” he said.
Chaotic session
The Dewan Rakyat session yesterday afternoon turned chaotic when several government MPs clashed with Mas Ermieyati Samsudin (PN-Masjid Tanah).
The commotion began when Mas Ermieyati refused to start her debate speech on the motion of thanks on the royal address, after noticing that the number of MPs present did not meet the quorum.
The Bersatu Women's chief then referred to Standing Order 13(1) of the house of representatives, which stipulates that the quorum for meetings and committees is 26 members, excluding the chairperson.
Masjid Tanah MP Mas Ermieyati SamsudinFollowing this, Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker Alice Lau instructed the secretary to ring the bell to summon MPs.
However, Mas Ermieyati’s action was met with resistance from several government backbenchers.
RSN Rayer (Harapan-Jelutong) insisted that the number of MPs present was sufficient.
Verbal spat
Meanwhile, Mohd Shahar Abdullah (BN-Paya Besar) stood up and explained that some MPs were absent as they were attending a briefing.
Mas Ermieyati then attempted to defuse the situation, explaining that when she was about to begin her debate, only 10 MPs were present in the hall.
However, Rayer continued to press Mas Ermieyati, questioning the non-attendance of Opposition Leader Hamzah Zainudin and Pagoh MP Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also the PN chairperson, during the Dewan Rakyat session.
The heated exchange between MPs persisted, prompting Lau to instruct the sergeant-at-arms to conduct a recount before allowing the debate session to proceed once the quorum was met. - Mkini

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