GROSS DISRESPECT to the people: Najib's NO-SHOW at Anwar's budget reply

On 1st October 2012, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and his entire Cabinet were absent from the Dewan Rakyat during the budget reply speech of the Leader of the Opposition Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

This was an act of gross disrespect to the Dewan Rakyat and to the democratic system of government provided for under the Federal Constitution. The complete abandonment of the government front benches during the budget reply speech was simply inexcusable.

It is clear from this irresponsible conduct that Najib and his Ministers are unable to accept the kind of criticism and debate that is the norm in all functioning democracies.

Najib's absence is made much worse by the fact that he is also the Finance Minister who presented the government's budget.

Commonwealth examples to follow and learn from

This year in the British House of Commons, Prime Minister David Cameron and his cabinet were present throughout the budget reply speech of Labour Opposition leader Ed Miliband.

Similarly, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and her Cabinet were present in the House of Representatives for the hard-hitting budget reply speech of the Liberal Opposition leader Tony Abbott.

This has always been the practice in democratic Commonwealth parliaments and in accordance with time-honoured parliamentary convention.

Disgrace

Najib and his Minister's conduct is a huge embarassment for our parliamentary democracy and renders laughable Najib's claim of running the ' best democracy in the world'.

Najib's consistent inability to face debate or criticism makes him a serious liability as Prime Minister of this country. Najib now even appears to fear the cut and thrust of routine parliamentary debate.

By his conduct yesterday, Najib has disregarded the right of the rakyat for a comprehensive and meaningful debate upon the budget proposal. He has undermined Parliament and disgraced his own political coalition.

N Surendran is the PKR vice president and a prominent human rights lawyer