The government has extended the Minister's Question Time slot in the Dewan Rakyat to 10 minutes, up from five minutes.
The extension is to allow ministers to reply in the Lower House instead of just giving a written reply that is uploaded online as was done during the five-minute session.
Question Time was originally 30 minutes long but had been shortened to five minutes on Nov 5 as part of streamlining efforts to end Parliament sessions by 2pm due to Covid-19 concerns.
This change will take effect tomorrow, and will be in force for the remainder of the current Parliament sitting which ends on Dec 15.
Minister's Question Time is held every Tuesday and Thursday and features three main questions from MPs.
Under the original format, a lawmaker - who has been scheduled for the session - reads out their question to which the minister concerned will respond with a prepared answer.
The lawmaker then gets to ask a supplementary question, followed by a brief answer from the minister, after which there will be another supplementary question from an MP on the opposite side.
Under the new shortened format, there will be no supplementary questions.
The latest change was moved by de facto law minister Takiyuddin Hassan and passed with a voice vote.
Teo Nie Ching (Harapan-Kulai) questioned whether this had been agreed to by the party whips.
She also said that only getting an answer that had been prepared beforehand would be "just for show" and asked for one supplementary question be allowed at least.
Takiyuddin replied that the government motion was based on a request from Khoo Poay Tiong (Harapan-Kota Melaka).
"Answers will be given on the spot," he added, without elaborating whether this meant the answers would be off-the-cuff or pre-prepared.
At present, Parliament sessions this sitting have been shortened to 2pm due to Covid-19 concerns. - Mkini
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