Absence of ministers forces Parliament to adjourn shortly

PARLIAMENT | Awkward scenes were witnessed at today’s Parliament session, as it was forced to adjourn shortly due to the absence of any minister to second the tabling of the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia Bill 2017.

The incident occurred when Deputy Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Henry Sum Agong tabled the bill for the second reading.

Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker Ismail Mohamed Said, who chaired the sitting, then looked around for any minister or deputy minister who could second the bill.

"Who will second (the bill)?" he asked.

It was then that opposition lawmakers realised the absence of any ministers, and poked fun at the ruling coalition.

"Retract the bill. I proposed an adjournment, if not, hari ini dalam sejarah (today will go down in history),” said G Manivannan (PKR-Kapar).

"It's a shame for Parliament," shouted one lawmaker, while another said "All the deputy ministers are lazy today.”

In jest, the deputy speaker said he was forced to delay the sitting for ten minutes because he needed to use the toilet.

When the session resumed, Deputy Education Minister P Kamalanathan seconded the bill, despite being in the Special Chamber at the time.

Ismail ignored the protests of opposition lawmakers and instructed the house to continue with the debate.

The proposed amendment of the bill will allow the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO), which handles trademark applications, to also conduct business activities.

According to Henry, the move will enable MyIPO to strengthen and diversify its financial resources.- Mkini