Questions over ‘expiry date’ of motions

 

Dewan Rakyat speaker Azhar Azizan Harun’s explanation was met with jibes from some MPs. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: The question of whether motions can expire had the Dewan Rakyat poking fun at speaker Azhar Azizan Harun, who said that unless requested to be carried forward, they can indeed lapse at the end of a session.

This came about after Gobind Singh Deo (PH-Puchong) prodded the speaker about the status of his motion regarding former de facto law minister Takiyuddin Hassan (PAS-Kota Bharu) for his comments on revoking the emergency ordinances.

In late July, Gobind had filed a motion to refer Takiyuddin to the Rights and Privileges Committee over his statement.

Azhar replied that at the end of a session, unless requested by those tabling it, the motion “expires”, citing Standing Order 15(5).

His explanation was met with jibes from some MPs.

One MP joked that they “thought it was only food that had an expiry date,” to which Azhar shot back that humans, too, could expire.

When the MP asked if the speaker had an expiry date, Azhar tersely replied “yes”.

Another MP jabbed that if this was the case, Azhar should get halal certification.

A back-and-forth between Azhar and Gobind ensued, with Azhar repeating that if a motion was not brought forward before the end of a session, it would expire when the session ended.

While Gobind demanded to know what decision had been made on the motion, which Azhar had promised to answer, others could be heard complaining that motions could be stalled until the end of a session so they would just “go away”. - FMT